RSM Elaine Murphy
Regimental Sergeant Major Elaine Rose Murphy (a.k.a. Murph, Murphy, "Jazz", Bunny Winters)
Elaine Murphy is a Bunnykin, or Rabbitfolk, who is the Regimental Sergeant Major of the Princess Rowean's Royal Light Infantry, colloquially known as "the March Hares." She is a trusted personal friend of the Lapin Queen, Sable Aradia.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Elaine Murphy was born to a Canadian working-class rabbitfolk family, daughter of a career soldier. Her father is Col. Dwaine Darren "Iceman" Murphy Jr., formerly of the British Royal Air Force, later a C-18 pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force when he and his Canadian wife immigrated to Canada in 1979, in the bunnykin's native reality. She was the runt of a premature litter of four, but was the only survivor. Her mother, Elaine Rose Sr. (nee O'Hare) was diagnosed with Stage 4 ovarian cancer 19 weeks into the pregnancy, and refused treatment until her litter was born. Immediately afterwards, Elaine's mother had a radical hysterectomy, so Elaine is her only child. However, the cancer was successfully arrested and has been in remission ever since.
Elaine was a good but not exceptional student, although she excelled in such athletic pursuits as gymnastics and track and field. A childhood sexual assault caused damage, and she never fully developed. Her father spent most of Elaine's childhood in prison for the murder of the rabbit responsible, her uncle.
Elaine, however, was made of tough stuff, and aside from the absence of her father throughout her youth, this didn't phase her much. He did the best he could to make up for it, as he was allowed family visits in a trailer on the prison grounds, where he and his daughter would spend hours snuggling and reading, and he would help her with her homework. She was proud of her father's military record, and her mother was clear with her about why he was in jail as soon as she was old enough to understand. If anything, this drove her to a higher standard of excellence.
Joining the military was never going to be a question. She enlisted right out of high school, and with the Advanced Leadership course at Kingston under her belt, it didn't take her long to make her way through the ranks. She saw action in Afghanistan, coming home with a Meritous Service Cross and a Sacrifice Medal when she was wounded by flak from a landmine and still managed to remain in command and get her troops out of danger.
While she was posted in Afghanistan, Elaine began writing erotic military fiction under the pen name "Bunny Winters" as a method of escapism. She sold incredibly well on Amazon Kindle, finding a number of romance fans there. As she began to work on her budding second job with more enthusiasm, learning the elements of the writing craft through online courses and connections with other romance writers, she also discovered she had a bit of minor ability as a Literomancer. Mostly, her literomancy tends to manifest as "buffs," increasing the natural abilities of herself and her troops in dire situations, or as protective charms to prevent harm under fire.
Later in her service, Elaine was content with doing a lot of instruction at Kingston when she could get the duty, and she hoped to never actually see combat again... but then the zombies came. At the time, she was stationed in BC, and she joined up immediately with the Lapin Forces when the Canadian government collapsed. She became quite close with Queen Sable, her bunnykin monarch, over the course of the next two years of savage warfare, and was heartbroken when the Immortal Rabbit died defending the royal nursery.
A voice spoke to her then, as it did to most of the other bunnykin in the ruins of their world, and asked her if she'd like to start over, in a new reality, with a new queen. She guesses she must have said yes, because she then found herself, along with a number of other rabbitfolk, in the Lapin Protectorate.
Queen Sable took a liking to them immediately, and won Murphy's loyalty forever when, after she'd been told about her father's conviction, she wrote a royal pardon on the spot, saying, "Seems like a reasonable course of action to me, Colonel. And that was many years ago now, besides the point. Want a job? I could use a few good rabbits."
Both Murphys swore to the Bunny Queen then and there.
When Princess Rowean formed the Princess Rowean's Royal Light Infantry, and created the March Hares, Murphy felt she'd found her calling. Given the callsign "Jazz," she settled into her role as the Regimental Sergeant Major, and has been serving Lapin with her whole heart ever since. She and the Bunny Queen often meet to smoke cigars, drink coffee, and talk shop, although they get in a fair bit of friendly socializing at the same time. Since, by an accident of fate, both bunny women share a birthday, it has become a tradition for them to have their own quiet, social party after Queen Sable's official duties are done. The Mother of Bunnies is the only one, aside from her father, that she allows to call her "Lainey," which was an affectionate nickname she confided one evening over drinks.
Much to Elaine's surprise, the fiction of "Bunny Winters" could still be found on Amazon in the Tomeverse, and when she proved her account identity, she was able to resume her secondary career. She continues to receive a small, but not insignficant, monthly royalty payment, especially from her share at Kindle Unlimited.
Sexuality
Murphy would best be described as ace, though whether this is from personal preference, or is more hormonally-related, would be hard to say.
Employment
Murphy drifted between various jobs in high school. She spent some time working diners, and did a brief stint as a graveyard shift delivery service dispatcher, before attending the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, ON. She did boot camp, then Advanced Leadership Training, and then enlisted in what was the Canadian Forces at that time in her home reality. When the collapse happened, and the zombie apocalypse came, she joined the Lapin Forces almost immediately.
Mental Trauma
Elaine has received treatment for her trauma related to the loss of her reality's Queen Sable and the horrific warfare conditions, and while she exhibited symptoms of Acute Trauma Response for a while, she has thus far avoided a PTSD diagnosis.
This article is a work in progress, and may be subject to changes.
This article is part of a series related to streaming the Game of Tomes. For more information, see Streaming Game of Tomes.
Alignment
Neutral good
Current Status
Teaching at the Lapin Royal Military Academy
Current Location
Species
Ethnicity
Other Ethnicities/Cultures
Date of Birth
March 6
Year of Birth
1981
43 Years old
Children
Pronouns
She/her
Sex
Female
Gender
Female
Presentation
Feminine
Eyes
chocolate brown
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
orange and white
Height
5'3"
Weight
115 lbs
Belief/Deity
Frith and El-Ahrairah
Aligned Organization
House Lapin by Dani Adventures
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