Character Sketch: Poppy Nightshade
Physical Description: Charming, seductive, and deadly, Poppy Nightshade is a spy and assassin employed by Queen Bloodrose and is a master of illusion, deception, intrigue, and disguise. One of the Daoine Sidhe, Poppy is one of the most beautiful Faeries of the Unseelie Court and is slim and athletic in build with a pale but healthy complexion like flawless white porcelain, elfin features, a shoulder-length mane of raven-black hair, and a perfect hourglass figure that would be the envy of any woman of the Victorian Age. Although Poppy could disguise herself as human without the use of magic, it would be quite difficult: her ears are long and pointed while her eyes are almost too big for a human face, and are a brilliant emerald green without any visible whites like those of a cat.
Poppy prefers to wear black accented with green and gold, and favors clothing styles from the French and Italian Renaissance as well as the Victorian Age, and as a noble of the Unseelie Court likes to wear expensive gold jewelry set with emeralds and black opals.
Biography: As her name suggests, Poppy is a minor noble of House Nightshade as well as one of the few Unseelie members of the Court of Flowers in the Summerlands.
Since names are a source of power, like the other members of House Nightshade she had the power to heal or harm with a touch, and after Poppy was rejected by one of her lovers she murdered him in a moment of passion, filling his veins with nightshade poison. Exiled from the Summerlands, Poppy wandered through the Shadowlands until she found employment as an assassin for hire, working for the Unseelie Lords during the Jewel Wars. By chance Poppy encountered a powerful sorceress and alchemist by the name of Princess Bloodrose, and intrigued by her unique combination of abilities she had the Unseelie noble trained as both a warrior, spy, and assassin while Bloodrose instructed Poppy in transformation and illusion magic, allowing her agent to assume the appearance of anyone she desired. Bloodrose also used alchemy and sorcery to enhance the power of her deadly touch, allowing Poppy to flood the veins of her opponents with concentrated opiates or deadly poisons from the nightshade family, and armed with these abilities quickly became one of the most lethal assassins in Faerie. Such was her talent that scores of generals, knights, and nobles fell before her touch while Bloodrose became so feared that few opponents would stand against her, clearing the way for the Princess to seize the throne of the Shadowlands.
But her work was just beginning, for many of the Jewel Lords refused to accept Bloodrose as their sovereign and Poppy was often forced to remove them from power, filling their veins with opiates so that they could be captured and interrogated or poisoning them so that the enemies of the Queen would quietly vanish from sight. Since that time, Poppy Nightshade has served as a spy, assassin, and secret agent for Queen Bloodrose, and has become one of her most trusted servants as well as possibly the most dangerous member of the royal household. Recently, a young woman named Alice Liddell has escaped from the Origami Garden with the help of a mortal hero named Sam Smith, and Bloodrose has dispatched Poppy Nightshade to the city of Carnivale to retrieve both Alice and a mysterious object that the young woman stole from her...
Personality: Poppy Nightshade is a clever, cunning, and resourceful agent of Queen Bloodrose who is absolutely loyal to her sovereign and will do anything to please her, as few are aware that Poppy is secretly in love with the Queen and dreams of the day when Bloodrose will accept her as a lover as well as a friend. Although she worships and adores her, Poppy is aware that a love affair with Queen Bloodrose would destroy both their reputations, as Bloodrose has yet to choose a consort from among her own people and most of the Jewel Lords would rather see one of their own seated upon the throne of the Shadowlands. Charming and seductive, Poppy is a master of glamour, illusion, and shapeshifting as well as an accomplished actress and a master of disguise, and given enough time to study a target can easily remove them and assume their identity, allowing her to move unseen among her opponents and eliminate them. Although Poppy would be considered a sociopath by human standards, she does not murder indiscriminately; Poppy prefers to take lives only when necessary, and would much prefer to paralyze or incapacitate her opponents rather than murder them. Like most of the Faerie Folk, Poppy is a creature of passion but through training and meditation has learned how to control her emotions, becoming cold and calculating when on assignment and allowing her emotions free rein when she is relaxed. As a final note, Poppy later learns to admire and respect Sam Smith, regarding him with what amounts to professional courtesy and viewing him as a worthy opponent, and while facing agents of the Infernal puts aside her differences and actually joins forces with him, although Poppy is well aware that the two of them could never become friends and will always remain on opposite sides of the eternal struggle for control of Faerie.
Poppy prefers to wear black accented with green and gold, and favors clothing styles from the French and Italian Renaissance as well as the Victorian Age, and as a noble of the Unseelie Court likes to wear expensive gold jewelry set with emeralds and black opals.
Biography: As her name suggests, Poppy is a minor noble of House Nightshade as well as one of the few Unseelie members of the Court of Flowers in the Summerlands.
Since names are a source of power, like the other members of House Nightshade she had the power to heal or harm with a touch, and after Poppy was rejected by one of her lovers she murdered him in a moment of passion, filling his veins with nightshade poison. Exiled from the Summerlands, Poppy wandered through the Shadowlands until she found employment as an assassin for hire, working for the Unseelie Lords during the Jewel Wars. By chance Poppy encountered a powerful sorceress and alchemist by the name of Princess Bloodrose, and intrigued by her unique combination of abilities she had the Unseelie noble trained as both a warrior, spy, and assassin while Bloodrose instructed Poppy in transformation and illusion magic, allowing her agent to assume the appearance of anyone she desired. Bloodrose also used alchemy and sorcery to enhance the power of her deadly touch, allowing Poppy to flood the veins of her opponents with concentrated opiates or deadly poisons from the nightshade family, and armed with these abilities quickly became one of the most lethal assassins in Faerie. Such was her talent that scores of generals, knights, and nobles fell before her touch while Bloodrose became so feared that few opponents would stand against her, clearing the way for the Princess to seize the throne of the Shadowlands.
But her work was just beginning, for many of the Jewel Lords refused to accept Bloodrose as their sovereign and Poppy was often forced to remove them from power, filling their veins with opiates so that they could be captured and interrogated or poisoning them so that the enemies of the Queen would quietly vanish from sight. Since that time, Poppy Nightshade has served as a spy, assassin, and secret agent for Queen Bloodrose, and has become one of her most trusted servants as well as possibly the most dangerous member of the royal household. Recently, a young woman named Alice Liddell has escaped from the Origami Garden with the help of a mortal hero named Sam Smith, and Bloodrose has dispatched Poppy Nightshade to the city of Carnivale to retrieve both Alice and a mysterious object that the young woman stole from her...
Personality: Poppy Nightshade is a clever, cunning, and resourceful agent of Queen Bloodrose who is absolutely loyal to her sovereign and will do anything to please her, as few are aware that Poppy is secretly in love with the Queen and dreams of the day when Bloodrose will accept her as a lover as well as a friend. Although she worships and adores her, Poppy is aware that a love affair with Queen Bloodrose would destroy both their reputations, as Bloodrose has yet to choose a consort from among her own people and most of the Jewel Lords would rather see one of their own seated upon the throne of the Shadowlands. Charming and seductive, Poppy is a master of glamour, illusion, and shapeshifting as well as an accomplished actress and a master of disguise, and given enough time to study a target can easily remove them and assume their identity, allowing her to move unseen among her opponents and eliminate them. Although Poppy would be considered a sociopath by human standards, she does not murder indiscriminately; Poppy prefers to take lives only when necessary, and would much prefer to paralyze or incapacitate her opponents rather than murder them. Like most of the Faerie Folk, Poppy is a creature of passion but through training and meditation has learned how to control her emotions, becoming cold and calculating when on assignment and allowing her emotions free rein when she is relaxed. As a final note, Poppy later learns to admire and respect Sam Smith, regarding him with what amounts to professional courtesy and viewing him as a worthy opponent, and while facing agents of the Infernal puts aside her differences and actually joins forces with him, although Poppy is well aware that the two of them could never become friends and will always remain on opposite sides of the eternal struggle for control of Faerie.