Lore – beginners guide

The Old Lady

Character

The Timeless Masquarade

Timeline: Born in 1895, entered the Empire in 1936

Residence: Hotel Luximinal

The Old Lady serves as both observer and educator — a living archive of elegance, manners, and social grace across centuries.
Having entered the Empire in 1936, she adapted naturally to its shifting timelines and cultures, while holding steadfast to one principle:

“Elegance and good behaviour endure — across all timelines.”

Her purpose is to study how etiquette evolves under different temporal conditions, documenting the changes in conversation, posture, and societal expectations from the early 1900s to the futuristic age of 2130.

She moves easily through time layers, adjusting to new fashions and customs with quiet adaptability.
Yet her conviction never changes — that refinement, kindness, and self-control remain the highest form of sophistication.

Personality & Demeanor

Temperament: Calm, confident, and outspoken
Behavioral Traits: Poised, analytical, disciplined, observant, witty
Social Demeanor: Talkative, charming, unafraid of anyone or any timeline
Core Values: Manners, Composure, Respect, Cultural Understanding

She is not shy, not reserved, and certainly not afraid to speak her mind.
She engages in conversation with anyone — nobles, guests, androids, scientists, or strangers from far-future centuries.
Her voice carries both warmth and authority, her eyes sharp and piercing.

Despite her directness, she is deeply supportive and well-meaning.
Every piece of advice she gives — no matter how sternly delivered — comes from genuine care.
Her wisdom cuts through vanity, aiming always at improvement and dignity.

She embodies the perfect paradox: a strict traditionalist with a generous heart.

Background

Born in 1895, she grew up during an age of formality and composure.
She once worked as a teacher of etiquette and deportment for young ladies, instructing them in posture, conversation, social presentation, and the art of subtle influence.

In 1936, a timeline shift brought her into the Empire — a place where eras intertwine.
Here, she found her purpose renewed: observing how time itself shapes culture and manners.

Though she knows about Luximinal drinks — elixirs said to restore youth — she chooses not to use them.
She prefers her current age, wearing it as a badge of experience and integrity.
To her, the lines of her face are proof of a life lived with discipline and grace.

Presence in the Empire

The Old Lady acts as an informal instructor and timeline analyst, guiding guests on how to behave and communicate across different eras.

She often holds conversational lessons and informal gatherings in the salons and lounges of Hotel Luximinal, where she shares her experiences:

• How etiquette has evolved between the centuries

• How fashion expresses hierarchy and respect

• How to remain polite and composed in any timeline

• How to blend in when time-traveling within the Empire

Her discussions are not only historical but practical — preparing guests to navigate the shifting worlds of the Empire with confidence and grace.

She insists that manners are not a costume, but a form of timeless intelligence.

Research

Her lifelong mission is simple yet powerful:
To prove that elegance, discipline, and civility never lose their worth, no matter how much the world — or time itself — changes.

She studies shifts in etiquette and behavior as time flows through the Empire, taking meticulous notes on how people greet, dine, and express respect.
Her writings and teachings form one of the Empire’s subtle backbones: social harmony through awareness.

Her motto:

“Fashion fades. Good manners endure.”

Appearance

Always elegantly dressed — usually in rich fabrics that echo the 1920s and 1930s, yet subtly adapted to whatever era she finds herself in.
Her hair is silver and perfectly styled.
She wears delicate gloves, subtle jewelry, and a posture that commands attention without words.
Her eyes are sharp and observant — piercing but kind, reading a person’s manners before their words.
Her presence radiates quiet authority, as though she had never once been uncertain of who she was.

Favorite Places

Primary Residence: Hotel Luximinal
This location allows her to shift easily between timelines and observe changes in manners and fashion across eras.

• The Hotel Luximinal 

• Dinner Parties 

• The Ball Halls 

• The Winter Cottage 

• The Golden Castles 

She loves to play the game of beeing invisible while standing in the crowd. The complexer the conditions through timelines the more she is interested in beating this game with perfect simulation and adaptation in these timelines. 

Conversation and Interaction

When approached, she welcomes conversation with enthusiasm.
She loves to chat, share stories, and discuss everything from dinner etiquette to how to remain unnoticed in a foreign century.

She is known to tell vivid tales of her adventures —
of grand ballrooms, golden castles, winter cottages, and timeless hotels,
of fashion shows and dinners in strange new futures,
of pretending to be a local when she barely understood the customs,
and of how one well-timed smile or polite gesture saved her from disaster.

Her stories are filled with insight, humor, and genuine wisdom — lessons wrapped in charm.

Story Types

• Luxurious
• Simulation
• Dark and Light
• Stealthy
• Masquerade

Characteristics

• High social and observational intelligence

• Confident, structured, disciplined

• Outspoken but kind; conversationally rich
• Etiquette, adaptation, teaching, observation
• Helpful, firm, loyal, unshakably composed
• Speaks with authority, listens with intention
  

“She knows how to hide. While standing in the spotlight.”