Emily Snowstraup

Emily Snowstraup is the second in command of The Midnight Valiant, meaning she's Erikk Einhertt's right hand. She's also knowns as the "ship mom" due to her protective nature regarding the younger crewmembers.

Bio
At first glance she’s a hardened woman who doesn’t care about anyone or anything but the ship, but if you pay attention you’ll learn that it’s the exact opposite, although she has a funny way of showing it. If she harps on people to get to sleep at a decent hour, it’s only cause she doesn’t want you getting hurt on the job the next day. Screaming at you to clean up, usually it’s so people don’t trip or break something. And if you haven’t eaten, she might give you some hard tack, but at least she knows you’ve eaten, although you’ll wish you had one of the cooks’ food instead.

She doesn’t really share her innermost feelings freely, but she will always listen to those around her. She will joke around with the crew, especially the older members, and will secretly spoil the chaos crew, even when they give her headaches.

You can always find her at the helm, patrolling, or just looking up at the sky every night, even when others insist on giving her a break. She feels that it’s the only connection she has left to her first love.

Appearance
Emily is tall, plus sized, curvy, with a bit of muscle from working on a ship for so long. Her hair is black and her skins pale, she has bags under her eyes from countless nights of staying up late, watching the night skies.

If you are within a few feet you'll notice that she smells like the cold night air, and oil from working in the engine room at times. But for the lucky few who are able to get closer with a hug, they will notice she has a strong smell of cocoa butter with undertones of honey, and lavender from her lotions to keep her skin from cracking. As well as the subtle smell of cinnamon whiskey on her breath.

For normal everyday she wears a white woollen dress that stops at the knees, a thick grey cardigan that hangs low, black tights to keep her legs warm, as well as black combat boots and a purple paisley bandanna. She also wears an assortment of rings and bracelets on any given day At night she wears a pair of black leggings, thick socks, and either a thick sweater or flannel shirt.

Background
Emily grew up in a small mountain village on the side of Mt. Blackburn in Alaska. Her family consisted of her parents, Wilfred, who was one of the towns merchants, and Adelaide who ran the library for institute of higher learning.

The Einhertt- and Snowstraup families were close friends long before Emily was born, so she had known Erikk for as long as she could remember. Their families had always joked about how they would get married one day, but the two children couldn’t think of each other in any way besides siblings. Her days were spent learning languages, proper manners, and dancing among other things, although she wished she could play with the other children in town.

Thankfully Erikk introduced her to Baron, who didn't much care about her standing and showed her how to navigate her way through the gritty streets. They explored abandoned buildings, ran through the neighbouring woods, and even played games when her lessons allowed. Although such childish things would end when her family made a deal with the orphanage that housed him. They thought him a bad influence on their daughter and sent for him to live with a family far away.

As time went on she continued her studies in solitary, with her only visits being that of Erikk and possible suitors. Each one was duller than the last, although she did form a pen pal through that of a Mortekai Terras, though his letters stopped after some time. Once she had turned 18 her family grew tired of her not choosing a suitable husband and made arrangements for her to marry. The night before her wedding, she sold her engagement ring and sought passage on the exploration ship The Dawn Rider.

Life on the ship wasn’t easy, thanks to the first mate Rùne, but as time went on she learned not only the normal duties of a crew mate, but also how to fight with a sword, fix engines, read star charts, and much more.

A few years later, the Dawn Rider went down in roaring flames. The attackers vanished without a trace, and the public was led to believe the incident left no survivors. Emily and Erikk both wished to forget the horrible loss, and had no intention correcting the public statement. After the incident, Emily was a mess, she began seeing Rùne’s ghost everywhere she looked. She had always heard the others saying how the quickest way to forget the past was through booze and acts of debauchery, so she did just that. One drink led to ten, a harmless kiss with a stranger led to mornings she’d rather forget.

It wasn’t until Erikk found her on the brink of death from alcohol poisoning that she was ready to get help.

After Erikk bought the Midnight Valiant, he and Emily spent the better half of a year fixing the ship, and eventually reunited with Baron after nearly 10 years apart. During that time she had learned to keep her drinking to a minimum, but always carries a flask just in case.