Lady's Maid

From FiranMUX

Overview

A lady's maid is a female personal attendant of the commoner or middle class who waits on a noblewoman from the general nobility, typically an influential one. Though lady's maids and ladies-in-waiting typically perform the same duties, the difference in vocation is dependent on who is served; a lady-in-waiting serves royalty (clan or Republic) and can thus be of the commoner, middle or noble class.

Traditionally, a lady's maid is expected to maintain her Lady's wardrobe and accessories and be an expert clothier and hairdresser as well. The position is demanding and the hours long; some Ladies expect their maids to wait up for them if they are out, for example, but the rewards typically include room and board, travel and somewhat improved social status.

The lady's maid is typically one of the few servants in a given household that is not accountable to a steward, instead she reports directly to the Lady she serves.

Equipment

A lady's maid can have a rather large array of tools if they need it. Many will carry extra toiletries for their lady when they venture out of the house such as perfume and perhaps an extra pair of hairpins.

Additionally many lady's maids may tailor at least some what and will own a set of tailor's tools if they have the skill to use them.

A lady's maid must also comport herself properly at all times thus a tasteful wardrobe of her own and a proper set of hairpins are a must.

Attributes and Skills

Like many servants social and mental attributes are vital to a lady's maid's success. She must handle herself with grace and decorum at all times and thus Sociability, Mobility and Allure are key, additionally Intuition assist a maid in planning ahead to insure her mistress' needs are met. Willpower and Maturity allow her to remain graceful under pressure.

Skills tend to vary more broadly depending on the needs of the lady a maid serves. Generally some degree of etiquette will be required to survive in a noble house. Gossip and fashion are very common skills for a lady's maid as well and many are tailors if only in so much to mend and hem their lady's attire as needed.

Reading and writing may be a part of a lady's maid's daily tasks and plenty will also have some sort of musical skill to provide entertainment as needed.

Additional knowledge may or may not be required of a lady's maid dependant on her mistress' needs.

Game commands

Lady's maids jobs are largely role playing oriented and generally require very little code. The appraise command may be needed to assess the quality of good being purchased and messenger commands will be useful to know for communicating with employers and crafters.

Suggested Roleplay Ideas

Your Lady

The lady a maid serves is obviously a huge focus of vocation oriented RP for a Lady's Maid but one must remember that noble women are very busy. To this end instead of waiting on your lady to initiate tasks and jobs, if it's keeping with your relationship with her, initiate them yourself!

• Try to arrange romantic encounters with her as a secret matchmaker
• Find out who your lady's enemies are, and act as a spy for her
• Find out who your lady's friends are, know their birthdays, and have presents ready for her to give
• When finding yourself having to sit as a quiet witness to important roleplaying, document it for posterity--who knows when that scroll will be able to be used to your benefit?
• Reorganize her wardrobe!
• Decide what color is fashionable this season and advise her to wear it!
• Find good gossip to bring to her!

Other Servants

Lady's maid's often consider themselves to be superior to other servants in a household and yet she lives along side them, often sharing close quarters if not with the servants themselves, with the house's steward. This conflict can lead to much competition and Role Play particularly between stewards and lady's maids who are on more equal footing.