Eris Shaw - Character Reference

Before I say anything else, let me point out that the ribbons on her hair are part of the headdress, she does not have any ponytails, pigtails or hair extensions.  The best way I can describe her hair without the headdress is similar to that of Kaede Takagaki.
I could have put a lot more into the drawing, but a lot of stuff came up last minute, for one thing my mother had to go through surgery, which went exceptionally well, but I'm having to look after her while she recovers.
Anyway, enough of that, onto the description.


Eris Shaw
Age: 17
Occupation: Lady's Maid, sort of
Hair Color: Dark Brown
Eye Color: Green
Personality and Description: Somewhat gloomy and a bit of a misanthropist, she is very protective of Irene and can become quite sadistic when the time calls for quick action, she can also be a little devious at times and is not afraid to pull a prank on anyone, including her employer, as well as her guests.
Family: Lost
Background: Eris has a complicated backstory, that is impossible to go into without explaining everyone else around her.  When Eris was a child her father ran a general store, and they lived a moderate but happy life.  This all came to a crashing end when Chandler, a wealthy railroad baron, started to buy companies in their home town, he also installed a number of syndicated chain businesses, which drove up the competition in the area.  Chandler was a cruel and ruthless individual, who thought of nothing beyond what he could personally gain monetarily.  After opening his new general store, right across from the Shaw family's, which was located in the perfect spot for the new hotel he had planed, Chandler made preparations to buy them out.  Eris' father refused every offer that Chandler sent to purchase the store, which angered the tycoon, who was not the type of person to accept any form of defeat, he would use any means possible to acquire their land, whether if it was through legal means or underhanded, and so Chandler set forward to destroy the Shaw business, through the later method.  One morning Eris' father received a hand delivered letter from an attorney called Hughet Conrad, who had a reputation for using sleazy underhanded practices, he was also known to be a loan shark that controls interest in a number of establishments, on both sides of he tracks.  Ironically, it so happens that Chandler and Conrad both owned interest in the local banks, as well as all financial and legal institutions in the area; both the mayor, marshal, judge and even the governor all had close ties to Chandler or Conrad, and would carry out any request issued by the two, or perhaps it's just that Conrad had some form of dirt on them.  Shaw was aware of the type of person Conrad was, and knew that he was trying to pressure him into signing over his business to Chandler, so he tore up the letter.  That night a fire broke out in the store, setting the entire block ablaze, but the fire depot could not send an engine for the first four and a half hours, as there had been multiple fires set in several other locations that night.  The next morning the Shaw general store was in complete shambles, and the insurance company refused to pay for the damages, as there had been a number of arson cases in the area that month, and a rumor had been spread that Shaw set fire to his own store to collect the insurance.  Additionally the bank had frozen Shaw's account and the two neighboring establishments demanded that Shaw pay for the damages made to their businesses, which is quite odd, considering that they received twice as much to cover for the repairs from the insurance company.  Losing both his home and his place of business, as well as having no financial support, Shaw was in gravely a desperate situation, it was at this time that Hughet Conrad reappeared, stating that he was sorry to see how the Shaw business had fallen into such a terrible state, and so Conrad made Shaw an offer he had no means to refuse.  The Chandler Co. would pay to rebuild Shaw's business, and keep Shaw on as the general manager, as Chandler Co. would own all assets to the business, they would also pay Shaw a monthly salary; in addition Hughet Conrad would provide lodging for both Shaw and his family.  This was in fact a total con designed to destroy him, as it turned out that the business Chandler Co. was building would be a hotel, and Shaw was manager only in name, in actually he found himself working menial odd jobs around the building, the amount of money he agreed to work for was significantly less, as someone had added a decimal point to the contract after the fact, likewise the small one room apartment his family was moved into was located in the worst part of town, and Conrad expected rent the day before Shaw received his pay, and Conrad charged heavily for late payments.  Shaw's family could not survive living under these conditions, so he petitioned to Chandler for a raise, Chandler agreed to the raise, but it would require Shaw to give up his status as general manager, and work in several other locations owned by the Chandler Co.  The new line of work proved to be quite excessive, and Shaw's pay had been increased to just bellow poverty level, likewise Conrad was sending notices for late-payments on a daily bases, and they were wracking up, so there was no money whatsoever.  Shaw stormed his way into Chandler's office, angrily stating that Chandler had not honored their agreement.  Conrad just so happened to be there, as if he had been waiting for this moment.  Chandler stated his side of the contract, and that he had it written out in good faith, and that if there had been any discrepancies at all, it was on Shaw's side of the deal.  Shaw retorted that the conditions Chandler expected him to work in were not in the original contract and were impossible to live by, to which Conrad added that Shaw had acquired quite a large debt, which both Conrad and Chandler had graciously allowed to continue, without collecting interest, and if Shaw was stating that he had no funds or intention to continue working with them, then he was in violation of the contract agreement, granting Chandler and Conrad the right to collect whatever assets that the Shaw family might have available.  At this point someone hit Shaw on the back of the head, knocking him unconscious, he awoke several hours later in a jail cell.  The next day Shaw was brought before the judge in a courtroom that was near empty, Hughet Conrad was making his argument to the judge, representing both Chandler Co and himself, the marshal and two guards were the only other people present.  Shaw was given an opportunity to state his side of the argument, but was denied the right to an attorney, he quickly found himself guilty by accusation.  As the judge was about to issue his sentence, the two guards left the room and returned with Shaw's wife and daughter.   Conrad leaned over to whisper in Shaw's ear "Cherish the moment, you wont be seeing them for quite some time", but before he could respond the judge finished his final verdict.  Shaw would be sent to debtors' prison for ten years, his wife would be placed in Hughet Conrad's custody to work off the debt and his daughter Eris would be taken to the Chandler estate, where she would continue to live as an indentured servant.  After being released from prison ten years later, Shaw found that his wife had died and Eris was out of reach, so he used what little funds he was given to purchase a revolver, he then met Chandler on the street, where he killed him.  Chandler's niece Irene Chandler, as his only living relative and sole heir, inherited his entire fortune.  Eris Shaw had been Irene's personal attended since she arrived at the Chandler estate, Irene was aware of her uncle's misgivings and ruthlessness, but had little to no influence on what transpired, in fact her own father was murdered as a response to running away with Irene's mother, who was also killed by the perpetrator do to an accident.  Chandler then took Irene in as he was her only living relative, and she was always at odds with her uncle, who rarely saw her.  Irene Chandler's demeanor can be best described as proper and sophisticated, with a touch of tsundere and a will of iron, she will not bend to petty demands, but her actions are far from that of her uncle's.  When Irene came to inherit her uncle's entire fortune, her first action was to absolve as many debts that her uncle held against people as possible, as well as paying compensation where it was needed.  She abolished all indentured status from the servants working at the estate, and payed them well for the time they worked there, granting the ones that chose to stay a reasonably high raise.  Eris Shaw in particular was given quite a fortune, in-spite of which she still continues to live at the Chandler estate, as though she works for Irene, following her from place to place like a shadow.  Having stated that, Irene considers Eris more like a little sister, where Eris still continues to wear her maids uniform, which leads many people to misunderstand her status, she is no longer a maid of the Chandler household, she can leave at any point in time, and probably has more money than the aristocrats that is confused when she ignores and walks away from them.  Oh, and she keeps kitchen knives under her dress, for some reason, which she will not hesitate to use!


[Update]
I had to make a few changes to the drawing's color and lighting, so it should look better.