Lucinda Lovelace

'''Lucinda Lovelace is one of the main characters of Tales of Concordia. She is the head scientist for the Magistrate family of Pacis.'''

Backstory
Lucinda was born 16 years ago on February 24th in Gilt Edge, West Concordia. Her parents are famed Norman scientist Lawrence Lovelace and his wife Barbara “Barbie” Lovelace. As a scientist who was known for studying obscure fields of research to create groundbreaking inventions, Lawrence was deftly curious about the Magus culture and magic itself. So shortly after Lucinda’s birth, the family moved to Pacis, East Concordia.

Daddy Daughter Bonding
As a child, Lucinda had a close relationship with her father. She admired him for his talent as an inventor and would often watch him while he worked in his home office. When she was 4, she begged him to let her do something "sciency" just like him. In an attempt to humor her, he gave her a box of drone parts to play with. A few hours later, he checked on her to find that she successfully put the drone together and even upgraded it. Thrilled at the revelation that his daughter was also a natural born genius, he showed her a history book detailing the legacy of the Lovelace family. Descendants born from their bloodline were known for having high levels of intellect and ambitious personalities that allowed them to accomplish great feats. Famous scholars, philosophers, pioneers, scientists and even Renaissance painters linked to their family tree had contributed to revolutionizing Norman culture in some way. The awestruck Lucinda told her father that she wanted to make a contribution as well. The proud Lawrence went about nurturing her talent by letting her assist him with small projects and giving her blueprints to study. The two of them shared the common goal of wanting to improve the world through their genius and became even closer thanks to the bond they shared. But that common interest would soon end up breaking them apart.

Top Secret
When Lucinda turned 6, her father started working on a “top secret project” sanctioned by the president of West Concordia himself. He was sworn to secrecy denoting that he couldn’t tell his wife or daughter about the project and he also wasn’t allowed to bring his work home anymore forcing him to spend nights at the Norman Research Institute in Gilt Edge. He was devoting less and less time to his daughter much to their mutual chagrin. Barbie insisted that Lucinda start attending school despite already being well educated since she needed to develop proper social skills and not just tinker with machines all day. Against Lawrence’s wishes, Lucinda was sent to Aurora Elementary School for Juvenile Sorcerers so she could make friends within Pacis. However since this was an all Magus school, her classmates were only interested in magic and didn’t identify with Lucinda’s ambitions at all. They excluded her from games that required magic to play and even mocked her when she would bring blueprints to school. Convinced that they could never understand her aspirations, she became a loner and focused on honing her skills as an inventor opting to disregard her teachers and schoolmates in favor of studying blueprints in dark corners. She continued doing this when it became apparent that Lawrence was working very hard on his own endeavors to the point of staying at the office for days at a time. She followed in his example of putting his craft above social obligations by locking herself in her room and creating small contraptions.

Happy Birthday
When her 7th birthday came along, Lucinda waited up for her father to come home since he made a Daddy Daughter Promise to spend the day with her. She waited for him well into the night despite Barbie beseeching her to give up. Lucinda nodded off only to awoken by a distraught looking Lawrence. He dodged her concerned questions and handed her a neatly wrapped gift box. He told her that it was actually a present for the inventor she was destined to become. Sensing her confusion, he clarified that she was to open the box 10 years from now on her 17th birthday. This would be their last Daddy Daughter Promise. Without another word, Lawrence walked out the door never to be seen again.

The Tragedy
That same night, the research institute that Lawrence worked at had been burned to the ground by an unidentified arsonist. No bodies were recovered from the wreckage and Lucinda took this as a sign that her father was still alive refusing to believe that he would let himself die before finishing what he started. This alleged terrorist attack led to the country of Concordia being physically segregated. Barbie and Lucinda decided to remain in East Concordia since they had already built their lives there.

Best of Both Worlds
Even while living in a magic dependent society Lucinda gave all of her time to science and technology. She had no interest in learning about magic and she was ostracized by her peers for her stubborn dedication to inventing. The classmate who most frequently harassed her for this was Clarissa, a magician/idol who is the lead performer of Illuminate; a girl pop group that performs flashy displays of enchantment while singing and dancing. The animosity between the two of them would come to a head once they were paired up to do their final project together. Clarissa boldly told Lucinda that she shouldn’t gripe about how Magus don’t bend a knee to her beliefs while she hasn’t made any genuine effort to understand their values. This statement made Lucinda remember that her father moved them to East Concordia with the intent of bettering his inventions through the study of magic, which is something that he seemingly never got to do before his disappearance. Lucinda started to take a genuine interest in magic and as she studied it, she realized that by combining it with technology she could create inventions unlike anything the world has seen before. Her first magic/tech innovation and their final project ended up being Gidget; the all-purpose device. Sofia; the Magister of Pacis, had come to look over these projects and was so impressed by Gidget that she hired Lucinda as her personal scientist.

Personality
Lucinda is a stoic and sensible young lady who has absolutely zero tolerance for bigotry. She carries herself with poise and has a cool-headed demeanor that is not easily shaken. She often acts as the voice of reason among her friends as well as the “grown up” whenever someone acts irresponsibly. But just because she rarely shows emotion that doesn’t mean she lacks it. As a child, Lucinda was very expressive and only started hiding her feelings when she was subjected to bullying. She didn’t want to give her tormentors the satisfaction of seeing her get upset so she wore a mask of indifference and ended up carrying this attitude into young adulthood. Her tendency to act unfazed in events that evoke strong reactions from others makes her come off as cold and uncaring to most. However, those who are close to her know that the exact opposite is true. Lucinda can’t stand to see others get mistreated whether they be a Norman or a Magus. When she learned that her friend Clarissa was being exploited and emotionally abused by her parents, she encouraged her to move away from them and even got Magister Sofia to help her untie her finances so they couldn’t steal from her anymore. Lucinda may be introverted and emotionally closed-off, but this makes the relationships that she does hold dear that much more meaningful. The deepest emotional bond she has is with her father. Although he mysteriously disappeared, he is still her inspiration to this day and she refuses to believe he’s dead claiming that she simply knows he’s still out there.

Despite her serious attitude she is not without a playful side. A more quirky quality Lucinda has is her tendency to tease her friends and sometimes flirt with people. She is considered by many boys (as well as some girls) to be quite attractive and when she meets someone who won't listen to reason, she's not above using her looks to get something she needs. Some instances include charming a White Knight cadet into getting off Kayden's back when he was under suspicion and distracting some middle schoolers by "accidentally" popping a button on her blouse.

As a Norman living in East Concordia, Lucinda is part of an incredibly tiny minority. But this doesn’t stop her from making a difference. She’s an inventor as well as a professional scientist who works directly under one of the 7 government officials that runs the country all at the age of 16. Her high intellect allows her to make any invention that is requested of her assuming that she has all the resources needed. She operates strictly by logic and is the least likely to let her emotions stop her from making sound decisions. Although most Normans are known for their smarts, what sets Lucinda apart is her lineage. She’s currently the youngest descendant of the Lovelace family whose ancestors are notorious for making history as the biggest contributors to Norman civilization. She plans to follow in this legacy as the first inventor to merge science and magic to create machines. She is almost never seen without her first remarkable innovation as well as her assistant; Gidget, the all-purpose device who runs on a sophisticated A.I and is powered by magic.

Lucinda’s most noteworthy trait is her firm often obsessive dedication to her profession. She can be seen inventing things even when she’s not on payroll as she constantly strives to outdo herself. While this determination is proven to be a great asset that results in a lot of useful inventions, it can often be a great detriment as well. If a project is important enough, she’ll stay up through the night to finish it and forget to eat or drink. This habit has caused her to develop a weak immune system and a predisposition to fevers. She also snuffs her own friends and mother if she’s busy working much to their chagrin. Another problem Lucinda has is her pride. She's actually rather smug about her family's accomplishments as well as her own and can get surprisingly sensitive when someone insults either of them. Her conceited side also grants her a competitive streak that prompts her to savagely crush people in even minor contests like video games and sporting events.

Powers and Abilities
Expert Inventor/Gadget Combat: Lucinda's only means of combat as well as her life's passion revolves around inventions. She's very innovative and imaginative as shown by the multitude of devices she creates that range from domestic gadgets designed to do housework all the way to literal military grade weapons. Lucinda is the first known scientist to integrate magic with technology and this allows her inventions to have astounding, virtually limitless capabilities.
 * Gidget: Gidget is an all purpose device as well as the first known machine to utilize magic in its design. She runs on an A.I that's so intelligent almost everyone addresses her as if she's a living being. She can understand and respond to human language and even look up information to suggest solutions to problems. Her inner mechanisms are incredibly complex to the point that Lucinda is the only person capable of repairing and upgrading her. The magic that powers her circuits allows her to use transmutation spells to instantly morph her into just about any device. This extends to heart monitors, automatic floor scrubbers, drones, missile silos, etc.

Analytical Skills: Lucinda is quite intelligent even by Norman standards. Her genius I.Q lets her accurately predict and be prepared to handle almost any situation. She's usually the one to discern the enemy's weakness during battle. She then relays this information to her friends so they can formulate more effective tactics that end the fight swiftly.