Marian Cooper

[Marian Cooper]

.:Name of Character:. Marian Cooper
.:Alias:. Maid Marian
.:Birth Date:. August 3, 1166
.:Age In 1192:. 26

.:Look:. Marian is tall for a woman, with a slender, athletic build, kept fit by years of labor. Her hands are calloused from her work, and despite spending time out in the sun, her skin is pale due to the lack of sun in England throughout most of the year. Her long, dark hair is usually seen partially braided to keep it out of her way, and curls of its own accord. Her eyes are grey with just a tinge of green, and she possesses full, pink lips.

.:Height:. 5’7”
.:Portrayed by:. Meghan Ory

.:Basic Personality:.
Marian is a particularly strong-willed and stubborn woman, and once she makes a decision about a thing or a person it can be very difficult to change her mind. She considers herself a practical woman, and while she isn't afraid of hard work, she has her pride and refuses to accept charity. She may be poor, but she's not that poor...not yet, at least. She's used to hard work, being born as a peasant she's always had to work for anything she wanted or needed, and she doesn't expect anything to be easy just for her. She's a realist, and tends to err on the side of pessimism; she doesn't believe that anything comes for free.

Despite her pessimism towards the plight of the working class, Marian is more often than not a woman with a good sense of humor. She’s generally rather warm and friendly with those she is on good terms with, and tends to be a bit of a shameless flirt at times. Above all else, she is a very maternal creature, and is always very protective of her son, especially so since she is the only one looking after him now. She would do anything to keep him safe and out of harm's way. She does have a short temper, and when she's annoyed she can turn quite vicious towards the subject of her ire, and when she loses her temper she often says or does things she later regrets.

.:Accents:. Lower-class English

.:Alliance:. Marian doesn’t care much for the Sheriff and his thugs, and while Robert seems to be doing good, she knows that he’s not doing it for the right reasons, so she’s not sure she’s on his side either.
.:Rank:. Handmaiden to Lady Vivian, tavern wench
.:Wanted For:. Taxes owed to the crown (But who isn’t?)
.: Special Skills:. Marian has some skill in hunting, tracking and the like.
.:Weapon Training:. She’s a rather good shot with a bow, but she lacks any other kind of fighting skill. Unless slapping uppity bandits counts.

.:Birthplace:. Nottinghamshire, England
.:Family:.
Father: Lucas Hart (Deceased)
Mother: Alice Hart (Deceased)
Brother: Jacob Hart (24)
Husband: Simon Cooper (Deceased)
Son: Robb Cooper (8)
.:History:.
Marian was the firstborn child of Lucas and Alice Hart, a poor but happy couple who lived and worked on the Locksley estate. Lucas was a hunter, employed by the nobles to keep their table well-stocked with wild game, and Alice worked as a maid in the Locksley household. Marian and her younger brother usually spent their days tagging along with their father, learning how to hunt, or playing with the other village children while their mother went off to work. As they got older, Jacob spent more time going into the woods with their father, while Marian went along with her mother to help her with her work at the estate.

When she was sixteen, her mother grew ill and passed away, and Marian was asked to carry on her work as a maid at the Locksley estate. Her family needed the money, so Marian accepted. She continued working there, until when she was eighteen her father arranged for her to marry Simon Cooper, a young but skilled tradesman who would be able to provide for her. Shortly before the wedding, her brother was conscripted into the army to join the crusades, and while Marian and her father believed that Jacob went off to war, it turned out that he was scared of what would happen to him, and so instead of doing his duty, Jacob ran away, presumably overseas or at least far away, and Marian hasn’t seen him since.

Marian’s wedding went ahead as planned, but when her father arranged the match, he apparently wasn’t aware of Simon’s little problem…gambling. He owed a lot of money in taxes to the crown, and only a few weeks after their wedding, Simon was seized by the Sheriff’s men and hanged to set an example to other of what would happen if they did not pay their debts. And while they’d only been married a few short days, Marian would later learn that she was with child. A widow with a child on the way, Marian returned to her father’s house, where she would give birth to and raise her son, Robb, with help from her father.

Despite the laws about poaching becoming increasingly strict, her father continued to make his living primarily as a hunter, and as long as Thomas of Locksley reigned, he saw no trouble for it. No, the problems came after his death. It was only a few weeks after Sir Guy of Gisbourne took over care of the lands that Lucas was caught for poaching, and in punishment, he lost a hand. Unable to draw a bow any longer, he found himself out of the only work he’d ever known. Shortly thereafter, the noble ladies of the Locksley estate relocated to the city of Nottingham, and when they asked Marian if she’d come along to keep her job, she had little choice but to agree. It wasn’t like they’d have any chance of surviving the rising taxes otherwise.

So Marian continued to work as Lady Vivian's handmaiden, looking after the matriarch of the Locksley family with great care, as the noblewoman had always been good to her and her family. Her father looked after her boy, passing on all his skills as best he could, until about a year ago. He became ill with fever, and without the coin to pay for healers or medicine, he too passed away. Marian copes as best as she can, between trying to pay her taxes and look after her son, but things have only gotten worse lately, and she's taken to working a few nights a week at the local tavern to try and make ends meet. Only eight years old, he’s on his own most days when Marian can't find a friend or neighbor willing to look after him, and has taken to prowling the streets, learning all the secret routes, and, much to Marian’s chagrin, getting himself into a lot of trouble on the way. He’s far too much like his namesake for her liking.

[The Narrator]

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