Anastasia Tomas (nee Slatten)

Lady Anastasia Triana Tomas (nee Slatten) (a.k.a. T.S)

It was said that Anastasia was harmless. An old woman nearing her 70s, doddering along behind an equally ancient Lady Thana. Most people ignored her when they saw her - as a commoner, she never really fit in at the San court, and nobody truly cared about what she did or where she went. Lady Thana certainly never saw her as a threat, and indeed Anastasia was one of her closest confidantes. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that Thana was one of Anastasia's closest confidantes, to the extent that Anastasia ever confided in anybody. The mind of Anastasia was a maze of intrigues and negotiation, and after every interaction she had she always seemed to come out on top - tax leniency here, a new dress there. When Thana died, it was found that Anastasia was the sole inheritor of her possessions - and, therefore, her title. Lady Anastasia didn't last long after that, but she didn't need to - the Tomas line was ensured a place in the court from then on.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Anastasia was born to a commoner family in the city of Sanine , where her father worked as an assistant on Pencrafter's row and her mother worked in the fields while also raising her and her 2 older siblings, Ladell and Asina. The family was descended from the infamous Timothy Slatten , although this fact was not made widely known and many times when it was uncovered later in Anastasia's life all evidence inexplicably disappeared. The family seem to have been unremarkable by most counts - her father showed no real skill at the pencrafting trade and her mother was an apt but not exceptional farmer. Her older brother Ladell passed away at the age of 15 when he fell from a tree he was climbing to impress a girl, and her older sister Asina moved away from the family at 17 to follow her fiancé to Doston .
Anastasia, however, was clearly ill-content with her circumstances and from an early age she attempted to attain a better life style. She used to work in the fields with her mother to get more money for the family and as she grew older she began socialising with many people who were technically above her societal rank. One of these was the young Lady Thana , who Anastasia met in the markets one day when the two were 12 and 8 respectively. They got along rather well and Thana made a point of coming back to the market regularly to talk to Anastasia. Over several years they became good friends, until Thana's mother died and she went to assume her courtly duties as the new noble of the family.
Anastasia continued to work in the marketplace for several years afterwards, and contrived to run errands for stall owners that took her near Thana's housing. Occasionally, the two would meet and talk, keeping their relationship alive.
At the age of 23, Anastasia married Ken Tomas, a promising pencrafter. The money from his work paid them handsomely and by the time Anastasia was 30 she was the mother of three children.
Ken died at the age of 50 and Anastasia, 40, was left with three grown children and no source of income. It was at this time that Thana approached her with the offer of a position of lady-in-waiting. Seeing an opportunity to advance her agenda, Anastasia gratefully accepted and within a month was living with Thana in her lodgings, along with two of her three children. As time went on, her oldest daughter Talia bore her a grandson and two granddaughters, which Anastasia is said to have been very fond of. At court, Anastasia was the picture of manners - she never spoke out of turn or stepped out of line, and was always attentive to Lady Thana's needs. It was observed that as Thana began to grow older, Anastasia would become more vocal on her part in debates. Thana always agreed with what Anastasia said and most people assumed that it was simply because the two discussed such matters privately. In fact, Thana was suffering from early-onset memory loss and Anastasia was taking advantage of this to push her own agenda in court.
This went on for the rest of Anastasia's time as Thana's assistant. When Thana died, Anastasia inherited all her belongings and began to reveal some of her true character in court. She died about 5 years later asleep, and although it has never been proven it is supposed that foul play is involved.

Education

Anastasia received little education as a child, learning only what she needed to read adequately and harvest in the fields.  When she married Ken she learnt a little of the pencrafter's trade, and through Thana she learnt about court life and manners.  Most of her education was picked up during her time as Lady Thana's maid.

Accomplishments & Achievements

Anastasia managed to single-handedly force through bills that were beneficial to her, including things that benefited her sister in Doston by giving the Dostonian fishing guild more power to exercise taxes for the town, things that benefited her ageing parents by introducing aged care plans for Sanine and other such programmes.  She established a successful noble dynasty for her entire line even after her death which, although not enthused about by other nobles, remains intact today.

Intellectual Characteristics

Anastasia is said to have been exceptionally shrewd and cunning, with the ability to manipulate people and circumstances to her desires.  Some of Thana's more lucid diaries relate this in great detail, telling of how she would leave a court session with the realisation that Anastasia had tricked and controlled everybody in the room into following her desires, including Thana herself.  Anastasia was also a quick learner and able to adapt to situations with ease.  She did not show any noted spellwriting talent, although some suspect she practised the art in private.

Birthplace

Sanine

Gender

Female

Eyes

Grey

Hair

Short and dark

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Light brown

Height

5'9"