Callista Maricel
From Crossroads Wiki
Contents |
The Girl
Callista (or Conk, to those who know her best - from Concordia, that is) is the scion of the storied and somewhat infamous Maricel family, a machinist and inventor with a reputation for having all of the intensity, brilliance, eccentricity, talent, unpredictability and wild imagination as the rest of her prominent but reclusive family. She arrives in Gateway to begin her political education as the heir to Tinker's Bench as well as open a workshop; though she's more than capable of repairing almost any commonplace item her specialty lies in creating esoteric clockwork creations as fanciful and beautiful to watch as they are dubiously useful. She tends to keep odd hours, and visitors to the shop are as likely to find it wide open with all of its lights on in the wee hours of the morning as they are to stop by and find it closed and locked up tight in the middle of the business day, but those who've been inside of it report it's every bit the cluttered, fantastic jungle of very pretty nonsense that you'd expect.
The Family
The Maricel family has been noble for many, many generations, having held the seat of Tinker's Bench since before time out of mind on Draught, and flirted with political advancement and title on repeated occasions due to the history and noted education of the line. Unfortunately, they never seem to hold any position of greater power for long: theirs is a family tree noted for being exceptionally bright - some say too bright, as occasional branches of the family's bloodline have fallen into madness or eccentricity and either self-pruned due to mishap and suicide or withered away into obscurity. The current generations seem to've achieved comparative stability, and though the contributions made by the Maricels to the progression of technology over time have been markedly among the most significant in the Isle's history, its members are still viewed as potential loose cannons, to be handled like explosives: powerfully good for a purpose, but dangerous if applied incorrectly.
Callista's mother and father have a reputation for being extremely reclusive, which is perhaps in some way responsible for their daughter's unusually outgoing personality. They handle the matters of Tinker's Bench with businesslike aplomb and spend most of their time pursuing their shared passion, the development of new technologies for exploring the ocean. The family has a reputation for being so disinterested in emotional or familial matters (there is a running joke on Draught that the Maricels have only ever actually produced offspring by accident, stumbling over procreation the way they seem to haphazardly stumble over new ideas) that it's notable that her parents seem to be absolutely and utterly in love, so madly passionate that they're constantly looking for new and grandiose ways to express their love to one another. As they tend to do this using whatever inventions or ideas come to mind at the time, this has occasionally unfortunate results, and is another source of amusement for the denizens of Tinker's Bench.
It's known that Callista has a younger sister and a much younger brother, but aside from their names (Fascienne Solita Imogen Quintessa Maricel and Favian Adeodatus Ezio Quintus Maricel, respectively - the Maricels go in for a mouthful when they name things, inventions and children alike) not much is known about the siblings.
Songs
- Chemicals Collide, Cloud Cult: Human interaction: mystifying and awe-striking, or generally weird and incomprehensible?
- Coin Operated Boy, The Dresden Dolls: That would surely make the difference. ...right?
- Atlas, Battles: Because it's rockin' (and strange), and I listen to it when I play her. The inside of her head probably sounds like this sometimes. Scary, I know.
- Tras, Battles: See above. They're probably good workshop songs, though.

