Euphemia (Effie) Smythe-Harris

Played by Tony Jones in the early 1990s in a game run by Peter Moore


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Effie is a character from a Champions 1889 game that combined the Space 1889 setting with 200 point Champions superhumans, for a fun game overall.


Background

Euphemia (or Effie as she preferred to be called) was born twenty years ago to Estelle Harris, the wife of prominent and influential merchant banker Sir Nicholas Harris. She is the second of six children with an older brother, Tobias (now aged 25 and an officer in the British Army on Mars), a younger brother Jonathan (now aged 17 and at Oxford) and two younger sisters Henrietta (now aged aged 18 and married), and Ophelia (now aged 14 and at school).

There was never anything to suggest that Effie was anything other than normal, although she suffered from none of the illnesses which often afflict children, and so, because she never had any contact with them, only stories, acquired a deep-rooted suspicion of doctors and what they did.

Her mother Estelle died in the birth of Ophelia when she was six, after which the children were brought up by a series of nannies, all of whom were very strict in accordance with Sir Nicholass wishes. The children saw their father only rarely as they grew up and even then he rarely spoke to them except to admonish them for some wrongdoing - he was definitely of the children should be seen and not heard school of thought.

Effie grew up into an attractive, well educated and intelligent young woman who, although she did well at school never really wanted anything more than to be a good wife to the right man. However, like many other Victorian women her education lacked any mention of sex.

When she was seventeen Euphemia met James Smythe, an up and coming young banker with the Bank of England, then aged 21. They fell in love and a marriage was arranged in her nineteenth year. The ceremony was large and impressive with large numbers of guests from all over the Empire, and Effie was very happy. Then came the wedding night. Effies complete ignorance of sex meant she had no idea what was going on, and it turned into a very traumatic experience. Suddenly she collapsed into a coma.

The family doctor was summoned, but had no idea what was ailing her and, with her fathers and husbands permissions had her sent to the best hospital in London where, over the course of the next two weeks she remained in a coma while growing four extra arms and becoming considerably less attractive. When it became obvious what was happening the doctors wanted to bring in others to examine this unheard-of phenomenon but Sir Nicholas used his influence to make sure that what was happening to his daughter was kept strictly between himself, the doctors involved and Effie's husband, James.

After two weeks in a coma Effie woke up, much thinner and very hungry from having grown the arms. She immediately had to be sedated when she went into hysterics after finding that she had somehow changed into a freak. As she tottered on the verge of insanity her father and husband were summoned and brusquely told her that she was going to have the extra arms amputated or be locked away from the sight of decent people forever (though James did not look at all happy at this latter option). No-one even asked her opinion, but she was frequently told that whatever was done, it would all be for her own good. James sat by her for hours trying to get her to see that this was really for the best and that he still loved her, but Effie was in shock and not listening. Eventually James left, but Effie overheard him talking to the doctors outside - he was being told that there was only a low chance of her surviving the amputation of her extra limbs as her physiology was more than they understood. She heard James telling them to do it anyway and lay there in shock. This did not do anything to alleviate her suspicion of doctors.

At last she reached a decision. Repulsed as she was by what she had become she was even more repulsed by the thought of having her extra arms amputated or being locked up forever through no fault of her own, and decided to leave. She was not entirely sane at this point. Putting on her clothes as best she could, but quickly finding herself far more dextrous than she had been before, she attempted to leave with the extra limbs concealed under her cloak. Unfortunately her father happened to be arriving at this time and saw her making off. A chase ensued which led to her climbing out of a window in an attempt to climb down a drainpipe and away. However she had never done anything like that before, and was just about to fall when, flailing around, her hands started to stick to the wall! While her pursuers gaped in surprise she was able to reach the ground and run away.

Effie wandered around London for days, lonely, hungry and afraid, crying a lot and discovering as she went that she seemed unaffected by the cold and could somehow see in the dark by the heat things gave off. These discoveries did not make her happy, just more convinced she was a freak. She spent her nights sleeping on roof-tops. On several occasions she narrowly avoided being lynched by mobs when her extra arms were accidentally exposed, these experiences giving her a dislike of crowds which she retains to this day. Eventually however, she learnt how to hide her arms inside her clothing so she merely appeared broad-shouldered and barrel chested, and drifted into the roughest area of London - Whitechapel.

She was on a roof in Whitechapel, thinking desperate thoughts and crying when an old blind man in the room below heard her and invited her in. It was the first person she had spoken to since she had left the hospital, and the whole sad story spilled out as she talked to him. The old man, who called himself Blind Bill, sympathised with her plight as she was obviously so distressed and gave her food and a place to stay.

Bill told Effie that he was a fence (having to explain the term to her), and told her that the only way she could survive now was by crime. Effie was torn between her morals and her gratitude to the old man for helping her, and eventually his persuasive tongue brought her round to his way of thinking - she need only rob people who wouldnt miss what she took, and she did need some money to be able to survive - Bill wouldnt be able to support her forever.

Over the course of several weeks Effie proved an able pupil as Bill taught her the rudiments of lock-picking and the ways of the street. Then she began to go out on jobs, committing robberies from seemingly inaccessible places across London. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to her, Effie found herself in competition with some of the local criminals. She found this out when they ambushed her as she was heading back to Bills after a job. They beat her senseless and would have raped her if not for her freakish appearance. Instead they dropped her in the Thames with weights round her ankles. Some time later Effie woke up. She realised she was underwater, and also that she was not breathing. She panicked, and eventually managed to free herself from her bonds and swim to the shore. Ever since then she has been much more careful when dealing with criminals.

Several months ago Whitechapel was terrorised by the crazed killer Jack the Ripper. During this period of time Effie kept a very low profile as she had no desire for her freakish appearance to make her the prime suspect. Fortunately, no-one made any connection between her presence in Whitechapel (known mainly through a few street rumours) and the madman.

As she travelled the streets of Whitechapel and the surrounding areas Effie saw that there were people there who were even worse of than she was, even though they were normal, and began to help them when she could, even to the extent of giving them money, and although this did not make Bill happy it made her feel better about herself. On several occasions she had run-ins with the Police and also with men sent by her father to bring her home, but has always managed to escape them. She has also had to avoid occasional searches by James, her husband, not that she really wants to but she is ashamed of her new station in life, in addition to not wanting her arms amputated. However, on many occasions she has longingly observed James entering and leaving his London home, and the Harris family home in London, wishing she could return to them.

Effie had been on the streets for about eight months, and had been trying to find information on places where she could fit in, when she learnt about the Martian Hill People, and how they would accept anyone, regardless of their looks, if they were worthy of respect. Also, there are such a great variety of Martians that even without that it is possible a freak like herself could fit in (she suspects, though has no evidence, that other freaks could also have come to Mars for the same reason). Seeing a hope of a new home she saved up enough money to travel steerage to Mars in search of a new life. She has been careful to avoid the British military on Mars as she knows her brother Tobias is among them somewhere and although he is a very nice, honourable fellow if he knew she was on Mars he would feel obliged to inform the rest of the family...

Euphemia used to fairly religious, but since her transformation she can no longer believe there is a God as, if there was, He would have to be a monster for what He did to her.

Although Effie does not know this, Sir Nicholas has explained his oldest daughters disappearance as her being sent off to a private sanatorium to recover from a bout of nervous hysteria, a treatment which requires that she have complete quiet and isolation from all disturbances and visitors. Reluctantly James has gone along with the deception, hoping that Effie will suddenly recover when she is found again.


Appearance

Euphemia is about 5'6" tall with short, roughly cropped dark hair and a slightly feral look. Her extra arms are arranged in a downwards-pointing triangle configuration : ▼, and, individually appear totally normal. Her shoulders are considerably wider and deeper than normal because of her extra limbs. When travelling among normal people she conceals her extra limbs by folding them across her chest under her clothing, giving her a very broad-shouldered and almost barrel-chested look. She also has small retractile fingertip claws which she conceals under gloves, and generally appears to breathe even though she does not need to.

Because of having to live in the poorer areas of London Effies clothes are now all fairly old, fairly tatty second hand ones. However, they are are all as clean as possible. Even so there is a large contrast between her definitely lower-class clothing and her decidedly upper-class accent. Apart from the clothes on her back, Effie carries everything she owns in a large carpet bag.

She does not look that similar, in face, hair or clothing, to herself before her transformation, so that it would take some effort for someone not familiar with her new appearance to make the connection between her new self and the old Euphemia Harris.

Although she resents what her father and husband forced her to do Effie still cares for them and the rest of her family, and has no wish to shame them all by revealing her freakish status. Because of this she has kept her real identity secret from everyone except Bill and is presently travelling under the name of Alma Harrison.


A Quote

"What do I want? I want my husband. I want my family. I want to go home. But I can never go home again, so leave me be!"


Effie in Champions terms.


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