Miranda "Archiduchesse" Ashcroft

Miranda "Archiduchesse" Ashcroft is a member of the British nobility, an archaeolgist, and a member of the Templar Order and The Witching Hour.

=• Biography •=

Early Life
Lady Miranda Ashcroft was born on September 4, 1988 to Lady Cecilia Ashcroft and Lord Richard Ashcroft, the 11th Earl of Sunderland, at their family estate, Althorp. She was given a first class education at the Lady Eleanor Holles School for Girls in London. From an early age, however, she was being groomed for the Templars. Alongside the more 'normal' studies with the girls of wealthy Londoners, she was also given a select education training her in basic combat skills and occult history. She quickly developed a keen interest in fencing and the violincello, but her history of marksmanship comes from her time hunting at the family's Scotland estate. Her choice to hunt with dual pistols, rather than a rifle, offended a few noble sensibilities during the outings, but her skill remained unmatched amongst her peers.

After graduating from the Lady Eleanor Holles School, she refused recuiting attempts by the Templar organisation and applied to Oxford instead. Despite her best efforts to avoid the Secret World, however, she enrolled in Oxford's Lazarus College and began study on Occult Archaeology.

College Years
Now an adult, Miranda began to insist that her honorary title was not used throughout campus, especially since it raised the question of her affiliation to the Templars in a supposedly 'neutral' occult environment. She excelled in her classes and performed admirably within the student orchestra, the fencing club, and the marksman club. Once she graduated with her bachelors degree, she went onward to study for a masters and doctorate in Occult Archaeology through Lazarus College. She began studying with her mentor, Montgomery de la Roche, and eventually accompanied him on an expedition to the outskirts of Al-Merayah, Egypt.

It was during this dig, through the final part of Miranda's doctoral thesis that she first encountered an anima manifestation. Little is known about this week, as there is no record in any surviving logs from the dig site. Furthermore, the Oxford team was all but wiped out during the Atenist uprising in Al-Merayah. The only surviving members of the original Oxford team with the Lady Miranda were Miranda herself and de la Roche. The doctoral student, Arun Singh, joined the team after her departure, as her replacement.

Following that week and having gained the connection to Gaia, she traveled back to London immediately and enrolled with the Templars.

Beginning with the Templars
Because of her father and mother's connections within the Templars, Miranda was able to bypass many of the entrance requirements, being accepted as a 'legacy' member with powers. Especially during the current crisis beginning around the world, she was welcomed for her combat abilities as well as her expertise on occult archaeology. She was immediately deployed into the field to Maine, USA. After some time, she was reassigned to Egypt to act at the Council's behest. It was there that she researched and discovered one of the many groups surrounding the Templars, including The Witching Hour. She eventually joined, using her past experience as a cellist for entry. So far, her time with them has been productive.

=• Personality •= Miranda is, first of all, a member of the British Aristocracy. She was raised with the best of everything. The Ashcroft fortunes are not lacking in any way, so the family lives in all the luxury of the aristocracy during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Past this, however, Miranda is truly a good person. She may come off as a bit formal or a bit harsh, but she does always mean well. Oftentimes she can be found speaking aloud to herself. She can be haughty at times and ignorant of the less-fortunate at others, but she does her best to be a generally liked person.

=• Politics •= Miranda's personal mantra is aid for all. She was reassigned to Egypt for two reasons. The first being that the goal in Egypt was to help, even individuals. The second being that her work in Maine tended to get sidetracked as she assisted the local population deal with the issues surrounding Kingsmouth Island. This resulted in some tension between Templar leadership and Lady Ashcroft, eventually leading to her reassignment.

=• Family and Homes •= Miranda Ashcroft is the only child of Lady Cecilia Ashcroft and Lord Richard Ashcroft, the 11th Earl of Sunderland. The ancestral seat of the Earl of Sunderland is the Althorp Estate, situated about 122km outside of London. The estate is notable for the family's impressive collection of portraiture, including a large collection by Van Dyck. It was also the home of Diana, Princess of Wales, before her marriage to Charles, Princes of Wales. She is buried on the estate in a public area. They also maintain an estate, Castle Ashcroft, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, with extensive hunting grounds. Lastly, the family still maintains their townhouse in Cavendish Square.

She maintains some positive relation to her cousins and the parent branch of the Sunderland title: the Spencer-Churchills of Marlborough. Through them, she is distantly related to the powerful Vanderbilt family of the Americas.

=• Skills •= She is an expert marksman and very skilled with a fencing blade, using both in combat. She is also gifted with elementalism, but favors the previous two. She possesses a superior knowledge of occult history and identification of artifacts and their significance. Her work allowed her to gain a fantastic physical endurance, strength, dexterity, and speed, allowing her to penetrate tombs and ruins long thought impassable. She is an avid rock climber and prefers to climb mountain faces with no climbing gear. She is also fluent in French, German, Farsi, and Spanish and is passable in Russian (spoken), Thai, and Arabic (spoken). She is an expert at the interpretation of runes and glyphs. Also plays cello to a performance-capable level.