Character's Full Name: Adria Sigurd
Nickname: Aid; a.k.a. Adrian
Reason: : Aid is just a familiar shortening of her name; Adrian is an alias
occasionally adopted in order to carry out business
Name deriative
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE:
Age (does she look it?): 22, more or less
Height: 5.8'
Weight: 130 pounds
Eye color: dark brown almost black
Hair (color/length/style): light brunette
Favourite Color: The rich gold color of her buckskin mare
Education: Attended primary school until her mother's death. Then she was
needed at home to mind the younger two. She was six at the time. Her
lessons were resumed by her aunt Ruth a year and a half later. Though home
taught, Ruth and Frank imparted a love of reading on all the children. Even
the hyperactive Adria.
Religion: Elizabeth makes sure the Youngers study the bible on Sunday in the
place of attending church, but Adria prefers to find her religion in the
outdoors.
HABITS:
Smokes: NO
Drinks: Occasionally a drink while conducting business
Hobbies: Who has time? She does take greater pleasure in working with the
horses than is strictly necessary.
BACKGROUND:
Hometown: Born in a no-name mining camp in Pennsylvania. Currently a
fair-sized ranch just outside of Four Corners.
Type of Childhood: Happy. Despite being orphaned early, her Uncle Frank and
Aunt Ruth welcomed Adria and her siblings into their home with open arms.
First Memory: Being set on Uncle Frank's buckskin (the sire of her mare) and
promised another ride if she came and visited.
Most Important Childhood event that still affects her: Trying to take the
place of first
her parents, then her aunt and uncle. She's always been extremely aware of
her responsibility to the others.
ATTITUDE:
Most at ease when: riding the fenceline, or working with the herd
Ill at ease when: confined to the house, or a social setting where she has to
abide by traditional gender roles. Attention focused directly at *her*
Priorities: Keeping the family together, and the ranch afloat
Philosophy:
PERSONALITY
Greatest source of Strength: Her family. She'll do anything she has to for
them, and vice versa. She draws on that bond for support, confidence, and
strength.
Greatest Weakness: Also her family. She's been responsible for them for so
long that she can't remember how to let that go. When presented with a
situation, she thinks of the impact on them first- rarely even seriously
considering what *she* wants. Tends to be less confident without their
support to rely on.
Soft Spot: Strays (2, or 4 legged)
Biggest Vulnerability: Any of her siblings. If they are in danger, Adria
tends to get reckless. Elizabeth tends to be the counter to her impulses,
offering a more moderate course of action
TRAIT:
Optimist or pessimist: Optimist Why: Hope has on occasion been the only
thing they didn't run out of. And even when it got pretty thin, it always
eventually saw her through.
Introvert or extrovert: Extrovert Why: She has to be in order to
function in the male-dominated horse trading circles.
Drives and Motiviations: Adria is determined to have THE best horse ranch in
ANY territory.
Talents: Learned everything she knows about running the ranch at her Uncle
Frank's knee. She runs a good spread, well cared for and carefully laid out.
Excellent rider, breaks all of the saddle horses herself, and selects the
bloodlines. A fair barterer she sells the animals herself without going to
an auction house
Extremely unskilled at: Finances outside of the immediate sale of a horse.
She and Francis work in tangent during sales, and he manages the books. Also
totally lost at domestic chores.
Biggest Regret: That Frank and Ruth didn't live to see the ranch flourish
Minor Regrets: That the Youngers have made do with homeschooling, and no
proper bible studies. She figures it's too late for herself, but they
deserve a proper upbringing
Biggest Asccomplishment: Keeping everyone together and the beginnings of a
reputation with in the horse trading world.
Character's darkest secret: That her 'twin brother' Adrian who takes all the
horses to sale is really Adria. She dresses up like a boy so she'll be
admitted to the sales without hassle. As far as anyone outside of the family
knows, they are two different people.
Does anyone else know: He brothers and sisters who help her pull off
the deception.
BIO
Born into a Pennsylvania coal family. Her mother died in child birth when Adria was six. Her father was kill just over a year later in a mining accident. Seven year old Adria, five year old Francis, and baby Claire were bundled off to live with their father's brother in the territories. The younger two have no memory before going west, but Adria still occasionally wakes up with the singing of hammers in her ears.
Life with Ruth and Frank was good. They already had two daughters, Elisabeth and Dinah. The other three were made to feel completely at home and before long were more sibling than cousin.
Frank was a horse breeder. That's what he knew, and what he taught Aid and Francis. He couldn't have asked for a more eager audience. Years passed and Aid was nearly a full partner in the ranch (one of the first in the territory). She could do everything from the choosing of bloodlines, to the saddlebreaking.
Frank and Ruth were killed in a fording accident when Adria was eighteen. For the second time in her life, she assumed the burden of the other children. This time she could share responsibility with Elizabeth, but there was also more responsibility to share. The growing family had been increased by Thomas, Noel, and most recently- Rose.
Determined to stay together, since they'd run out of relatives- and couldn't even begin to imagine someone taking all eight of them, they'd stayed on at the ranch. The first year was lean. But Frank had always been a planner. He had made arrangements for the spring season and the kids just followed his plan.
To their surprise- it worked. They've been at it ever since. Slowly building a reputation for superior saddlehorses.
