Lady Philomena Waterford
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Author: Christoph Sticherling
Homepage: http://bigmama.rhoen.de/users/gm/lair.htm
System: GURPS
Type: NPC
Category: Horror
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Graphic: Picture

Background:

Philomena was born the only child of Sir Dennis and Lady Cecilia Halbrooke. Sir Dennis is the younger brother of the 7th Viscount of Davenport. He decided to become a man of science early in his life and is now among the most distinguished Dons at St. Cedd's College, Oxford. Philomena was raised in an atmosphere of academic interest. Although her father specialized in Roman and Greek history, Philomena was drawn to the more ancient. She most liked the company of a Don who taught paleontology and patiently showed her all kinds of petrified plants and animals. History seemed to her as something vivid and tangible, and sometimes she even experienced flashes of knowledge about certain objects she examined. When she grew up, she realized that this was not "normal" and learned not to speak about it. Her education was far more academic than usual for a girl at that time, and her mother was slightly worried that she could become "unfeminine", especially since Philomena developed a keen, inquisitive mind and a sharp tongue.

When Philomena was 16, she met the Honorable Julian Waterford who was a student at Oxford at the time and promising to become a distinguished scholar. His main field of interest was archaeology, but he was also fascinated by the headstrong and startlingly intelligent young woman. When he came to know her better, he realized he much preferred her wits and knowledge to the usual inane female prattle. About two years later, when his father had died and he had come into possession of the title and the family residence, he asked Philomena to marry him. To Philomena, he was the love of her life. They moved to Waterford Hall and she helped him reorganize his library. She learned much about archaeology during that time, and even more when she accompanied him to an excavation in Egypt. They were very happy together, her only sorrow being that she never conceived. Then, in 1882, her husband had a hunting accident; his horse threw him off and he died two weeks later. Philomena was stricken with grief, but after a while she found the strength to go on living. She surrendered Waterford Hall to Sir Julian's younger brother and returned to the vicinity of Oxford. There, she returned to her old passion, paleontology, with a vengeance.
She has since tried to publish her studies, but the fact that she is a woman keeps getting into the way. Most man of science know her as "Halbrooke's daughter" or "Waterford's widow". Philomena is determined to change that and to build a reputation of her own. She knows that her late husband would have been proud of her. She still loves him, and she cannot imagine ever getting married again. 

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