Question Assist needed

Of the Gen 1 characters that are known or defined, can anyone find me a French student, class of 08/09, either sex works. I need a translator/chaperone for Shine for a trip to France. Not gonna say much more at this point, but it IS for Shine 2 part 4.

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* Knick-Knack might be French, and he's in the class of '09?
* Skybolt and Cavalier are both Class of '08, and in the France Category for some reason...

Possibly Kismet...

Another option would be Zenith, with her Database Technique she knows the skills of those in proximity to her so she could probably extend that to languages in a pinch... though this wouldn't be ideal.

DanZilla wrote: Possibly Kismet...

Another option would be Zenith, with her Database Technique she knows the skills of those in proximity to her so she could probably extend that to languages in a pinch... though this wouldn't be ideal.

Kismet's Belgian... I'm assuming the specificity is because Elrod wants someone who can show 'Shine the sights and stuff?

But, if not, then our possibility space expands...

Malady wrote:

DanZilla wrote: Possibly Kismet...

Another option would be Zenith, with her Database Technique she knows the skills of those in proximity to her so she could probably extend that to languages in a pinch... though this wouldn't be ideal.

Kismet's Belgian... I'm assuming the specificity is because Elrod wants someone who can show 'Shine the sights and stuff?

But, if not, then our possibility space expands...

I looked at Kismet, but I need someone very specifically from France, with perhaps a little French ... attitude. Not doing sightseeing thing, though. Chaperone, tutor, translator, and that's all.

What about Spark or Charge?

Bek D Corbin wrote: What about Spark or Charge?

Too young. They're both Class of 2010.

Malady wrote:

Bek D Corbin wrote: What about Spark or Charge?

Too young. They're both Class of 2010.

As I understand from the Ayla tales, the rule for off-campus trips - a chaperone who's a junior or senior.

May have to take one existing, nebulously-defined student, and make him or her French, plus add some background.

Poking around, it appears that only Cav and Skybolt fit your criteria.

There are no 2008 Beret Mafia even mentioned.

There are some 2009 Beret Mafia, but although Dynamaxx knows "adequate" French, he is German. The wiki lists Skybolt under the category "France", but I'm not certain that's correct. She lapses into German at the drop of a hat.

Lightweight, Chat Bleu, Spark, Charge, Charmer are all c/o 2010, so no luck with that contingent.

Not sure where Romeo LaClavar is from, but my personal notes mention that he also speaks French.

Knick-Knack (c/o 2009) is from somewhere close to the Pyrenees and does speak French.

The Wiki lists three students in the Beret Mafia in the class of 2009: Cytheria, Dynamax, and Kismet. I'm pretty sure Kismet is French. I'm not sure about the status of Skybolt and Cavalier. They're noted as being taken to ARC, but they may have been rehabilitated in the story where Aunghadhail died.

XaltatunOfAcheron wrote: The Wiki lists three students in the Beret Mafia in the class of 2009: Cytheria, Dynamax, and Kismet. I'm pretty sure Kismet is French. I'm not sure about the status of Skybolt and Cavalier. They're noted as being taken to ARC, but they may have been rehabilitated in the story where Aunghadhail died.

No spoilers given publicly, but if you're not sure, I suggest you read "Medicine Girl" to learn of their fates.

Cavalier is the Frenchman in that relationship. He was born in Domremy, France. Skybolt is of German decent, her last name is Schroepfer, and she was born in Alsace-Lorraine. While they are both bilingual in the sense they spoke both German and French, as well as English, Cav's principal language is French while Elaine is most comfortable in German. While Elaine has French citizenship and holds a French passport, if you were to ask her, she would probably consider herself German.

XaltatunOfAcheron wrote: The Wiki lists three students in the Beret Mafia in the class of 2009: Cytheria, Dynamax, and Kismet. I'm pretty sure Kismet is French.

Kismet's Belgian, but no one holds that against the country.
Not explicitly stated (that I can recall) but Pers ‘Donner’ Gundersson is probably c/o 2009 with the rest of the Vindicators.
Wunderkind is "class unknown", but with Josie Gillman assigned as her roommate, the odds are good for c/o 2010.



It's useful to keep up with whom my WhatIF characters can safely backtalk. Hive not being one of them.

null0trooper wrote:

XaltatunOfAcheron wrote: The Wiki lists three students in the Beret Mafia in the class of 2009: Cytheria, Dynamax, and Kismet. I'm pretty sure Kismet is French.

Kismet's Belgian, but no one holds that against the country.
Not explicitly stated (that I can recall) but Pers ‘Donner’ Gundersson is probably c/o 2009 with the rest of the Vindicators.

I doubt that Pers know much about France. Hell, I doubt he knows much about Sweden

While Cytherea (c/o 2009) knows French quite well, her listed name is Victoria Donovan, and she is tagged as "Great Britain". Though interestingly, there's at least one reference with her using a French surname (Gaudin), and if that wasn't a simple mistake, it may be that one of her parents (or step-parents) is French.

(Epileptic trees time: I postulate that her legal surname Donovan may not be the one she was had at birth; her parents may have divorced and remarried more than once, under the influence of her powers (intentional or not). While her personal name (Victoria) is most commonly English or Scots, that probably only means that one of her parents was originally from Great Britain; she may be from somewhere else originally, such as Denmark or the Netherlands, and Donovan was one of her step-fathers. My suggestion is that this is the case, but that since then, her mother divorced him and married Monsieur Gaudin - just around the time Victoria decided she wanted to live in Provence for a while. Either she was formally adopted in late 2007/early 2008, or she was toying with the idea of adopting her step-father's name at the time of "Angel in Dickinson Cottage").

Romeo is officially a Swiss citizen, but in more realistic terms he and his mother two of those 'Continentals' who don't really identify with any one nation

Seems like Cavalier is the leading contender so far. And it would be nice to see him and Skybolt some more.

Schol-R-LEA wrote: While Cytherea (c/o 2009) knows French quite well, her listed name is Victoria Donovan, and she is tagged as "Great Britain". Though interestingly, there's at least one reference with her using a French surname (Gaudin), and if that wasn't a simple mistake, it may be that one of her parents (or step-parents) is French.

Gaudin is probably of Breton origin. Early mentions of the name are from Rennes and Saint-Grégoire, Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne, France, and Brereton-cum-Smethwick, Cheshire, England.

One of the big problems with back-tracing name roots to origins is England, but her neighbors "helped".


English + p-Celtic name pools have been swapping partners with Dutch, Gaelic, and French since the Romans left town.
French has been playing equally loose with Dutch, but also German, Iberian, and Italian.
Pre-12th c. Old Norse/Icelandic was playing the same game, swapping Baltic and Finnic for Dutch and adding East Slavic names.

A few years ago, with regard to English and German names the SCA's heralds threw in the towel for late-16th c. on.
( Note: If you want authentic-looking names for your characters without going mad, skip to the first three appendices for name patterns and mixes over which even the nitpickers have stopped asking to see your papers. http://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html )

Then you get anglicized surnames like Donovan.

Even the BBC is stumped on the correct pronunciation of some British names.


Anyway, it's not unusual for an Alsatian to have the surname Schroepfer, as it's originally a nice Württemberger name. (The exact spelling shows up in 17th c. Bratislava. Germans. Go figure.)

E. E. Nalley wrote: Cavalier is the Frenchman in that relationship. He was born in Domremy, France. Skybolt is of German decent, her last name is Schroepfer, and she was born in Alsace-Lorraine. While they are both bilingual in the sense they spoke both German and French, as well as English, Cav's principal language is French while Elaine is most comfortable in German. While Elaine has French citizenship and holds a French passport, if you were to ask her, she would probably consider herself German.

Good to know, I have already added the clarification to Skybolt's page. However, Wikipedia lists three places named Domremy in France; which of them is Cav's birthplace? The one in Meuse (Domremy-la-Canne), the one in Haute-Marne (Domremy-Landéville), or the more famous one in Vosges (Domrémy-la-Pucelle), birthplace of Joan of Arc?

Ok this is a long shot. I understand they need to be French but what about someone from a French territory?

List of French Territories

On the other hand, is it the end of the world to introduce a new French character who doesn't sit with the Berets? Maybe an underdog who keeps a low profile at school?

Hey, Skybolt and Cavalier make for an even better possiblity, considering you could end up with a "So, I noticed Don Assholo was crawling around you like a vermin..." And yes, more of them would be interesting.

I doubt either Skybolt or Cavalier would use such a... politely restrained tone when talking about Sebastiano.