Else Rommel



"'There is no greater danger to humanity than that which comes from the mistakes of men.'""- Erwin Rommel, Sr." Else was a pilot, soldier, inventor, operative, and experiment of the German Military's Research and Development Division, also known as the Order of the Dragon. She was also the Centurion student of Manfred von Richthofen, later known as the Red Baron, and younger sister of Erwin Rommel, popularly known as the Desert Fox Cunning Swabian. She was first encountered by the Lin Tsao, Ray Freedom, Viktor Vaughn, and Fernando Jose Salas del Monte in the city of London. She subsequently joined the party during their first encounter with the Shadow Federation.

Appearance and Personality
When Else originally met the party she had a structured, disciplined appearance, soldier's stride, sharp blue eyes, fair skin, and shorter blonde hair.

After the events of the siege of Wapping Warehouse, Alderly Edge, and the Battle of Saint Haven, Else's appearance has matured a touch. Her skin has grown a bit darker after Merlin's boon (?), and a scar from her battle with Sir Ironside marks her left eyelid, just below the eye, and right above. She's allowed her hair to grow a bit longer, favoring keeping it pinned back in a strict bun. While conducting missions that require less conspicuous tactics, she does adopt comfortable civilians clothing.

Else has a near insatiable curiosity, ranging from the arcane to mad science to fantastical accomplishments of mechanical principles. Meanwhile, her outward demeanor can sometimes be seen as short, irritable, stoic, or very direct. The rare instances where she tries for a more casual manner than professional are more often than not rebuked with immediacy.

She has a strong sense of justice that is just barely tempered by pragmatism. It isn't unusual for her to put what she believes to be right over a military objective, such as when she chose to destroy the towers of Drachenburg over the French artillery positions, or risk her own life in shielding Lin Tsao from a point blank explosion, to offering up her automatons to a somewhat devastated Eberhard Littauer, or siding numerous times with the questionable persona of Juan Juarez.

Throughout her adventures Else has slowly improved her ability to make tactical decisions in the field with rapidity. A major flaw in many of her earlier missions was a lack of lateral thinking and ability to adapt to changing factors past the initial context of her mission. As her time under Luttwitz (and Irene Tannhäuser) has increased, she's gradually improving on this, as well as her ability to prioritize strategic objectives. Confidence characterizes Else's overall actions; ever since Merlin's blessings her desire to take risks and ability to actually weather them have increased. Whether it be defending her national pride in a duel with an ancient knight, attacking a French fortification on her own, or fighting the monstrous James Burke to the death, Else exercises a great daring when in the field.

Early Life
Else was born the third child of Erwin and Helene Rommel, in Heidenheim, Germany. Growing up, she looked up to her eldest brother, Erwin, and siphoned some of his interests in engineering and building from a young age. Through the combined efforts of her mother within the local government council and her father as a school administrator, Else found a chance at earning her acceptance into the Desch Windlestein Academy for Mathematics and Classical Sciences. Eventually, a visit by a pair of military scientists to the Academy during an annual mathematics competition pitted Else against one of them, and saw her best him in the competition. Though at the time, her family did not doubt the appearance of the men in the town, nor Else's astounding victory, the results were telling.

Joining the Order
It began with plenty of tests. A great deal of physical, mental, and social measurements. Personality types, where she lacked skills, her agility and strength at the age, but also went past this. As she grew, and the trips to the military base grew more frequent, until finally she fell into temporary residence there, and the research project grew with her. Dietary supplements, exercise regiments, lessons on being a proper fencer and markswoman, and all manner of teaching proper manners were impressed on her (though each had a varying degree of staying power.)

As a result of her age and ability, Else finds herself in a curious position; skilled enough to be a test subject for more dangerous contraptions, but also insignificant enough for them to simply not care should she suffer especially poor side effects from whatever it was being shoved into her arms. And it was through the Order, that she eventually came into the apprenticeship of Manfred von Richthofen.

The Great War
While some of the members of the group know more about Else than others, the commonly known things about her and her past are that she's a member of the Imperial German Army.

After departing ways with the others, Else has spent a great deal of time with the Order of the Dragon, under the guidance of Oskar von Luttwitz. She had the entity known as Gaffgarion bound to her and has since formed something of a symbiotic partnership with the demon, acting as his host while he acts as a constant form of guidance. Most of her time was spent training within Schloss Dunkelheit, or deployed over the Verdun in air battles, to take various military objectives. Certain missions even called for her to work with her mentor, and even one Hermann Göring.

Tools and Techniques
Else carries a pair of wondrous temperamental guns called the Twins, favoring long ranged combat. In single combat she tends to rely on them offensively, while relying on her superhuman durability and endurance defensively. Although Merlin's boon has left her far more resistant to harm than normal humans, she is not invincible, as has been proven by many close calls. Prior to the boon she did possess a natural resiliency and aptitude for recovering from damage, though.

In the field she's also relied on a variety of artifacts, inventions, and contraptions, usually suited to the mission, and decommissioned afterwards for various reasons ranging to a perceived responsibility to an unexpected hazard inherent to the tool. Her working knowledge of energy flow and theory is notable in the sea of minutia she's trained on, and thinking on her feet in the context of technical problems is definitely a forte. If she could transition this to a strategic or tactical mindset, it could be used to devastating effect.

Else has a wide breath of knowledge but she's far from the geniuses in esoteric arts and artifice, advanced scientific laws and fantastical feats of engineering that she rubs shoulders with among the Century Club and rogues gallery it regularly faces and allies with. She makes up for this with a strong thirst for learning, ability to work on projects for far longer than normally possible, willingness to mix normally divorced concepts for unusual logical leaps, and knack for applying or testing what she does know practically in the field.

Else was trained with a militaristic bent at a young age, which put her in a position to lead earlier missions with the team. Ironically enough this was a harder transition for her because of her familiarity with being given orders, rather than making decisions. She has gradually worked on this throughout the Great War. The greatest strength she possesses, however, is her telepathic connection to Gaffgarion, and ability as an ace pilot. With the advantage of such a durable machine frame, and Else's own durability, the duo make use of powerful green hellfire, diving attacks, and transient modifications to the plane's body during dogfights. While Gaffgarion's specific...proclivities can sometimes leave Else in an awkward position within the realm of man, she guards their mental link with fierce loyalty, even if he himself is uncaring of keeping it secret. Often times Gaffgarion's memories, impressions, and insights into situations give Else a perspective or angle on a situation that she hadn't previously considered.

Trivia

 * The only personal accessory Else keeps is a small mechanical bauble used to pin her hair back (though it is also a minor multi-tool). Oddly enough, hair tends towards a lighter blonde during the winter and a darker, sandy one in the summer, cycling lighter and darker during the autumn and spring, respectively.
 * Else is a diligent note-taker, and regularly notes observations or information for use later in a journal she keeps. This is mostly due to having regularly written her parents letters during her developmental training, and the need to give written reports to the Order based on field work.
 * After the events of Book 1, Else harbored a slight crush on Juan Juarez.