Gabrielle Parsons

Gabrielle Parsons is not what you'd call an average, dainty englishwoman. She has taken full advantage of her father's position in British Society to push the boundaries of acceptable feminine behavior. She was raised in Mayfair, London according to the proper fashion of the time. Schooled in language, literature and politics by her father, Viscount Parsons of Castle Shanbally, who spent Gabrielle's early years battling for a son only to have his wife die in childbirth when Gabrielle was only 6. After her mother's death Gabrielle travelled with her father during his business negotiations around the world, settling in France for several years after the signing of the Entente Cordiale agreement which opened the door for trade between France and Britain.

One day Lord Parsons took Gabrielle to a fox hunt held on his Irish estate. He thought she would be interested in the beautiful Irish territory and the diversity of the guests, but Gabrielle was entranced by the hunt. She couldn't understand how the dogs were able to track a single fox across miles of terrain. She begged her father to take her along to every fox hunt he attended and even though she wasn't allowed to participate in the hunt she began observing and recording the behavior of the dog packs.

When Gabrielle was old enough, Lord Parsons secured her admittance to Oxford University, his alma mater. She studied biology and anthropology until entering into a field research project with one of her professors. She has spent the last four years working in the Ngorongoro Crater in Africa studying the predatorial behavior of spotted hyenas. Her findings that hyenas live in complex family groups and hunt in an organized and methodical way was initially rejected by her colleagues who believed hyenas to be filthy scavengers of the African plain. She was criticized for being a woman, for living in isolated and barbaric conditions and for having an "offensively feminine" perspective on the way the real world operates. As more data was compiled and several other field researchers began making similar observations her research slowly began gaining acceptance.

And then Gabrielle experienced a personal coup! January 4, 1920 Oxford University began issuing degrees to its female students for the first time in history. Gabrielle was recalled from the field to attend a small ceremony in her honor. She travelled home with her personal assistant Jeeves (aka: the bodyguard her father forced her to take with her to Africa to defend her honor against the savages) and her local african guide Dingane. With her newly aquired PhD and her professional independance she is now in search of her own research grant to continue her work in Africa. Where the search for financial backing takes her is.... England. Sweet England.