Edison Rossivitch

[BetaKnight]

Name: Edison Rossivitch
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Grade: 12 [senior]
School: Bayview Secondary School
Hobbies and Interests: Field Hockey (striker), Academic Decathlon, Drama Club, reading and watching science fiction and fantasy, watching cartoons, playing video games, and Renaissance re-enactment.

Appearance: Edison stands at 5' 8" and 140 pounds. She is very fit and toned due to physical activities but is stocky rather than slender. Edison has brown hair that is so dark it is often mistaken for black. It hits her across her shoulder blades, and she habitually wears it down with two small braids that begin at her temples and meet in the back in a style that could be described as neo-Renaissance. She has heavy bangs that are cut straight across her forehead and fall just above her eyebrows. Her eyes are dark brown and generally glued to whatever book she is reading at the moment. Unlike most girls her age, Edison very rarely wears make-up. Her nails are often bitten short and occasionally nibbled to the quick when she is nervous. On the trip, Edison was wearing a Klingon hockey jersey, baggy blue jeans held up with a black leather belt, white tennis shoes with navy blue accents, and a shield bracelet.

Biography: Edison Rossivitch is the fifth of six children and the only girl born to David and Meredith Rossivitch. Rather than the beautiful, delicate doll her mother had dreamed of, Edison insisted on becoming a rough-and-tumble tomboy who blended in with the pack of sons. The Rossivitches are a very ordinary, albeit large, middle class family. They are firmly settled in the community. Both of the parents work at Hamline University; David Rossivitch teaches several sections of music and Meredith Rossivitch works as a departmental secretary in the Theater Department. The four elder Rossivitch boys Henry, Richard, Nikolas, and Malcolm are college students who still reside in the family home. The youngest Rossivitch boy, Peter, is an 8th grade student. All of the Rossivitch children are academically successful, due in part to the highly structured, hands-on parenting approach used by the parents. All of the children are required to maintain high GPA in addition to participating in extracurricular activities in order to make them "well-rounded individuals". The entire family belongs to the Society for Creative Anachronism, and has regularly participated in SCA activities for many years.

Edison Rossivitch is an unrepentant tomboy and unapologetic sci-fi geek, much to her mother's dismay. She shows very little interest in things like the latest fashions or what celebrity is gracing the cover of the tabloids this week. To quote her mother, Edison "stubbornly refuses to behave in an appropriate, lady-like fashion." In fact, ‘stubborn' is a word Meredith Rossivitch frequently uses to describe her daughter. Meredith wanted Edison to play tennis, Edison signed up for field hockey. Meredith wanted Edison to try out for the lead in the school play, Edison signed up to be a crew member for the production. Meredith hoped her daughter would learn to be more lady-like during their Renaissance re-enactment experiences, and Edison signed up for Armored Combat lessons as soon as she could.

Edison isn't a contrary person to most people. She just resents her mother's attempts to plan her life for her simply because she is the only girl in the family. For that reason alone, Edison is looking forward to graduation so she can go away to college and major in History. Also, the idea of living some place other than St. Paul for the first time in her life is very appealing. As for her high school career, Edison is just ready for it to be over. She isn't terribly popular, nor is she a social pariah. Edison has been in school with many of the same students since kindergarten but only has one very strong friendship with Olexia Kovacs. In class, Edison is often the quiet student reading in the back, unless Olexia is in the room. Then she can be seen harassing her best friend.

Edison can be very aggressive out on the hockey pitch and the practice field, but her tempers manifests off the field in sarcastic comments. Edison realizes that she doesn't exactly fit in well with the other girls her age. She lacks common ground with them since most of her interests like video games, science fiction, and martial combat aren't things the other girls seem to enjoy. It also doesn't help that Edison often expresses affection by punching people in the arms or wrestling and roughhousing rather than getting giggly and blushing prettily. For as well as she understands guys, the idea of trying to talk to a guy romantically leaves Edison tongue-tied and frustrated.

Advantages: Thanks to hours of field hockey and sword practice, Edison has considerable upper body strength and stamina. She is also familiar with the use of swords in one-on-one combat.

Disadvantages: Having never been in a practical fight, all of Edison's combat training is highly stylized and designed to leave her opponent uninjured. If left with an all-female party, it is possible that Edison would alienate potential allies.