Character Idea: French-born actress who excels at disguise and impersonation.
Character Name: Monique Deveraux
High Concept: Woman of a Thousand Faces
Trouble: Memorably Beautiful
Mythos Experience: While bathing on a beach in Normandy in her late teens, Monique spotted something underneath the surface watching her. She couldn't see any details clearly, but it had vaguely the shape of a large man. Yet it could not have been a man, for no man could stay underwater that long without breathing. When it began to swim towards her, she fled back to the shore.
Phase Trio:
Whatever It Takes
When the war broke out, Monique joined the Wrens (Women's Royal Naval Service) and served aboard a British destroyer on convoy escort duty in the North Atlantic. In the early spring of 1941, the ship was holed below the waterline by a U-Boat's torpedo and sunk. Monique made it off in a lifeboat with several of the surviving sailors, but the U-Boat surfaced and they were captured. There was not enough room for all of the prisoners aboard the U-Boat, so they remained aboard the lifeboat which was towed by the U-Boat as it set its course towards L'Orient. However, the commander of the submarine invited Monique aboard. The sailors advised her not to go, but she did anyway, as she had come up with a plan and was willing to take the chance and pay the price. The skipper was an old-school Prussian gentleman with a strong sense of honor, which was why he had not simply killed them with the deck gun as she had heard other U-Boat commanders did. She seduced him easily, as he wanted to be seduced, and that night he took her to his "cabin," which was really just a curtained alcove. While sleeping with the enemy and being unfaithful to her husband disgusted her, she did not show it, and she knew it was the only way to win her freedom and rescue the British sailors.
After the commander fell asleep, Monique quietly put on his uniform, concealing her hair under his cap. They were about the same height, as being tall was a disadvantage aboard a submarine. Like his crew, he had a full beard, as nobody shaved on a U-Boat, but she solved this problem by using his toupee as a fake beard. She also took his sidearm and keys. In the dark confines of the U-Boat, her diguise was good enough to fool the crew. She headed right for the weapons locker, loading guns and ammo into an oilskin sack, which she brought up to the deck. The sailor who was up there keeping watch and guarding the captives was tricked by her disguise long enough for her to dupe him into letting her take his weapon, after which she tied and gagged him, then distributed the weapons to the British sailors. They easily commandeered the U-Boat, overwhelming the surprised Germans, and sailed it back to a British port.
(Historical footnote: This event did not actually happen according to recorded history, though U-110 was captured on May 9, 1941 under different circumstances (along with code books and the vital Enigma code machine). However, that event was kept for secret for quite some time, as it was one of the biggest secrets of the war. That U-Boat was damaged and ended up at the bottom of the sea, so an intact U-Boat would be an even bigger prize. Thus, this could have happened, only it was kept secret forever).
It's Good To Be Bad
Monique's breakthrough stage role was Lady MacBeth, where she brought humanity to the part and got the audience to sympathize with her despite her wicked ways, emphasizing her inability to commit murder herself and her later remorse for getting her husband to do it. Through this experience, she gained an understanding of the human motivations of evil people, who did not see themselves that way and had justifications for all of their actions. This would serve her in good stead later in undercover work, enabling her to be friendly and relate to Nazis and collaborators in spite of despising everything for which they stand. Plus, she rather enjoys playing the villain.
Never Give Up
Monique's future husband first saw her performing in a play in Paris and met her after the performance. She fell in love with him, but a rival actress tried to steal him away. It was looking more and more like he was falling for the other woman's charms, but Monique used her costuming and acting talents to set her up in a situation where her true rotten self was revealed and contrived for her love to witness it by sendng him a note supposedly from her rival asking him to meet her at a certain time and place. He promptly dumped her rival and devoted himself fully to Monique. In spite of the odds having been against her, her determination would not allow her to lose hope.
Skills (Broad Focus):
Great (+4): Tradecraft (Disguise)
Good (+3): Deceive, Rapport
Fair (+2): Athletics, Shoot (Archery), Stealth, Will
Average (+1): Contacts, Empathy, Fight, Investigate, Physique, Resources, Survival
Stunts:
- Trained Performer (Deceive)
- Best Foot Forward (Rapport)
- Always a Way Out (Tradecraft)
Stress:
Physical: [] (-1) [] (-2) [] (-3)
Mental: [] (-1) [] (-2) [] (-3)
Consequences:
Mild (-2):
Moderate (-4):
Severe (-6):
Sanity:
Of Sound Mind: [][][][][][][][][][]
Disturbed: [][][][][][][][]
Unhinged: [][][][][][]
Fate:
Current: 3
Refresh: 3