Anne Keen
Physical Description:In a time where fashion and appearances vary widely from person to person, though the thoroughline seems to always be a vast amount of effort, pomp and grandeur, Anne likes sticking to a refined, dapper image.
From styling her dark brown har into a sleek, loosely curled wave hanging freely onto her shoulders, to sticking to simple make-up staples like red lipstick and basic blush and mascara - Anne keeps the effort at the socially required minimum for a woman of this time.
And while it can actually make her stand out amongst a crowd of heavily embellished dresses with a maximum amount of fabric and accessories, the young woman much prefers dressing in efficient and clean-cut - though polished looking - outfits.
Personality:
There's more than meets the eye in the case of Anne Keen, but at the very least she's cheerful and upright. Of course she's also dedicated, imaginative and individualistic, but often mixed with being cold as well.
Her cheerfulness though, this is what she's pretty much known for. People often count on this and her amusing nature whenever they need assistance or help.
Nobody's perfect of course and Anne has a fair share of lesser days too. Her avaricious nature and proclivity for putting herself before others pose plenty of problems, both personally and for others.
Fortunately her playfulness is there to relift spirits when needed.
Background:
Born to a middle class family living in Vienna, Anna Theresa had a fairly standard childhood for a young girl in those times. Life was rough sometimes, but her family made do. Growing up, Anna was always a very curious, even nosy, little girl, which caused her to often shake off the helpful neighbourhood grannies responsible for looking after her, while her parents were away.
People watching had always been something she loved to do, bustling streets and busy workplaces were just fascinating to observe. But her favorite activity for sure was always following her parents around - if they were aware of Anna's sneaking, she never knew however - and the young girl learned many interesting facts and ideas that way! Like protests, or workers rights, or that her parents really liked to argue about those. Only when she got older and had the necessary wisdom to look back on everything she lived through as a child, did Anna realize that her parents were often so very lucky to return unscathed from those types of gatherings.
Well, from most of them at least. A fateful day, her father's luck unfortunately ran out, ending up crippled and unable to work from that point on. The fact that, not many years later, Friedrich Mut passed in the year '83 was no surprise. He was already quite an older man, having had Anna while rather far along in his life. So, Anna had already started working as a courier to help her mother Sabrina with the bills. But with funerary costs on the horizon, that they were unlikely to be able to afford, Anna started hatching a plan.
Her job of these past two years had allowed her access to many types of homes, rich and poor alike, so why can't she take advantage of that and get a little bonus on the side? It's not like the wealthier customers are hurting for cash or valuables? With this foolhardy plan in mind, Anna started robbing the places she was delivering to. Not even a month into her endeavor, she picked the wrong target and everything went downhill. If not for the unexpected help arriving out of left field.
An old aquaintance of her fathers, apparently in town to pay his respects, was able to swing status and connections around. To settle an old debt, this William Beechworth had gotten Anna off scotfree, at least technically. Now, 5 years later and living under the name of Anne Keen, the young woman was an agent of Q.E.Q.O. Having first had to finish some schooling and training to get herself up to agency standard, Anne still has 4 years left of her 5 year contract. Then, and only then can she truly walk away with a clean record.
How 'Anne' came to London
*I really should have known not to stick my nose into noble business!*, frantic self-deprecating thoughts like these whirled through Anna's mind, as her body raced in kind. Sharp turns, hasty steps down alleyways and the occasional, desperate look thrown over her shoulder, the young woman of barely 19 years was hoping for a miracle by now. *What's the use of all those years outrunning the odd guard, if these common policemen can corner me like that?! Must be some freaks of nature, or something. Ugh...*
Grumbling underneath her breath, having just slid into a nearby residential area and hoping to let her pursuers simply pass her by - as outpacing the two men still after her seems to be quite impossible - Anna does her best to steady her breath and blend into her surroundings. After smoothing out her wind-swept dress, patting her dark hair to make sure she seemed presentable once more, and assuming the bearing of a regular resident of these apartment buildings, it seems luck is finally on her side. No further sign of police, so, 15 minutes after her rushed arrival the young woman gathers her thoughts, now that she finally had the luxury of time.
*Maybe I really was a bit too hasty to try and break into Steindl Manor, it was my first delivery to their grounds, afterall...*, a sudden thought interrupts Anna's musings and the groan that rips out of her throat is pure frustration and ire, *They probably already know my name. Why do I have to be so stupid?!* Having made her way to through the gated garden section of this building complex, Anna throws a fist at one of the nearby trees, immediately regretting her decision. "Argh! What else is gonna go wrong, huh?" Eyes tearing up from the pain in her hand, Anna glares at the sunny march sky quite commonly found in Vienna.
At this point lost on what to do, possibly wanted by name and description, having crashed her motorcycle an hour ago during the escape and not knowing if her home was safe to return to, Anna unearths her couriers cap from one of her pouches strapped underneath her poofy skirt and wrings it between her hands. And it was at this point - adrift without a feasable way out of this situation - that a helping hand was reached out to the young woman.
"Are you Anna Theresa Mut? I knew your father, he was quite helpful during the revolution of '48 and I believe it's my turn to pay that debt now.", a dapper looking older gentleman, clad in a brown leather trenchcoat, stood before her. And with a clasp of hands, Anne Keen, agent of Q.E.Q.O. was born.