let bygones be bylines
TRACIA "TRACE" MONTAIRE
| Age | Early 30s |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Female |
| Height | 160 cm | 5'3" |
| Weight | 48 kg | 106 lbs |
| Force Sensitive | Yes (unidentified) |
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Trace Montaire presents as beautiful in a clean and cultivated way: her dark eyes are expressive and direct, her dark hair usually worn in controlled waves or pinned with a deliberate simplicity. She has a narrow, fine-boned face with strong brows and a mouth often found in a knowing half-smile or sardonic smirk rather than a fully broad, warm smile. Her features have been described in less flattering terms, as well: "vaguely rodent-like" by a rival in college, and "pent-up, petulant, pygmy princess" by a boyfriend (during his transition to ex-boyfriend).
Trace's face is unusually expressive when she allows it to be, which is rare outside the confines of her home or other private spaces. In turn and as appropriate she can appear sympathetic, amused, skeptical, or raptly attentive with almost no change in posture, all in aim of getting people to talk. When she listens, it is not merely the appearance of paying attention. Instead she gives the impression -- unnerving to some -- that she has already understood what someone means and is simply waiting to see whether they will have the courage to say it plainly.
Her movement is precise, and this composure (as well as strong ankles allowing the usage of very high-heeled shoes) makes her seem taller and more commanding than she would otherwise be. She leaves little to chance; nothing in her appearance is accidental. She wears clothing that whisper about metropolitan refinement rather than the theatrical, impractical, comical luxury of Naboo's chattering classes. She prefers excellent tailoring, luxurious but restrained fabric choices, subtle jewelry, clean lines, dark neutrals with the occasional splash of richer color. She dresses like someone who expects to move from a gala reception to a press briefing without appearing out of place.
Trace understand that there is something subtly contradictory about her appearance that works in her favor: she can seem refine and almost delicate at rest, but when engaged she comes across as sharp, enduring, and difficult to push around or push aside. Powerful people who mistake her appearance for fragility sometimes find themselves invited by circumstances to re-examine those assumptions.
INVENTORY
Holorecorder, comlinks, datapad, coffee, lockpicks (cleverly disguised as hairpins), makeup kit, etc.
PERSONALITY AND BELIEFS
Tracia Montaire is socially intelligent to a degree that is nearly predatory. She reads mood, ego, hierarchy, insecurity, and shifting loyalties with unusual speed. She often knows when to flatter, when to commiserate, when to let silence hang, and when to ask the one question that makes someone reveal more than they intend. Her humor is witty and dry, well-controlled rather than flamboyant or performative. She enjoys cleverness, sharpness, and control. Sloppiness masquerading as untamed brilliance is tiresome.
In public, Trace comes off as polished and controlled. In private, she is more restless than serene. She is ambitious, deeply observant, and quietly competitive. She hates being underestimated; it makes her feel that she is expected to be ornamental, not formidable. Trace hates to appear needy, insecure, unsure, or behind the 8-ball. As a result, she is excellent under pressure but bad at genuine intimacy. Although not cruel by nature, Trace can be cutting when she feels patronized, or when it is the best tool for a job. Her anger usually sees her going quiet, not loud, and when she is truly upset by something, her instinct is to tighten, be more precise and more controlled.
For all her polish, Trace isn't emotionally hollow. She is capable of -- susceptible to, even -- strong feelings, reel loyalty, and actual tenderness. But she is loathe to allow herself to be ruled by these things. If she loves, she does it with more caution than abandon. If she trusts, it is usually after a long period of watching and proof. Trace is more sentimental than her self-image allows her to express publicly, especially about institutions that she wants to believe can be forces for good.
Trace's philosophy toward information is complicated. As a journalist it is her currency and her lifeblood. Recognizing that power depends on controlling who knows what, when, and in what terms, she finds secrets intoxicating and seductive, something to seek and to covet. She is not, therefore, an radical, truth-above-all absolutist anarchist. She also believes that powerful people lie so reflexively as to make it comfortable for them, and that her job is, at least in some part, to interrupt their comfort. Trace believes in the High Republic as a concept, but not innocently. She knows it is flawed, vain, bureaucratic, susceptible to corruption -- and still worth defending, because in addition to all those things it can be pressured, exposed, and argued with. Part of her journalistic ethos is that she wants political institutions to deserve the faith they demand.
Trace respects competence more than rhetoric, discipline more than charisma, and honesty more than presentation. But she is not blind to the seductions of power, ceremony, and prestige -- quite the opposite, in fact, she is quite susceptible to them herself. She likes to be in beautiful rooms, in the company of powerful people, and the thrill of being included where not everyone can be. She knows this about herself, but doesn't always know what to do with that knowledge. Her outlook is serious, but not grim. She is too alive to beauty, wit, and appetite to be a nihilist. An unrepentant hypocrite, Trace enjoys good conversation, chic clothes, expensive drinks, and the theater of public life, even when she is critiquing it. In another life, she might have made a good diplomat.
STRENGTHS
- Mind for Business: Tracia's brain is fast, pattern-oriented, and highly adaptive. She is good at noticing inconsistencies, remembering offhand details, and assembling a political picture from fragments others might ignore. She thinks well on her feet -- particularly in social environments -- and has strong editorial instincts.
- Composed: Trace is steady under scrutiny -- all but immune to embarrassment, pressure, and public tension. She is quick on her feet, recovering quickly from setbacks, and usually manages to look more in control than she feels. Condescension makes her more resilient, not less.
- Emotional Perception: She tries to get a feel for when someone wants admiration, absolution, validation, or to argue -- a trait that has been helpful in and sharpened by a career in journalism.
- Endurance: Trace isn't athletic by nature, but she can handle the strain of travel, long hours, disrupted sleep, and sudden pivots with a kind of stamina that can't be taught. She remains functional and socially effective even when running on metaphorical fumes.
WEAKNESSES
- Narrative Attachment: When Trace reaches a conclusion, especially if she thinks she is the first one to make the connection, she can become attached to that narrative, even beyond a point where she should.
- Vulnerable to Irrelevance: Nothing gets Trace's goat more than being left out, scooped on a story, or arriving after a critical moment has passed. It may not reduce her to panic, but it can make her sharper, colder, and more willing to rationalize ugly and ethically problematic behavior to get back the upper hand.
- Emotionally Unavailable: Trace can be intimate but straightforward emotional dependence makes her uneasy.
- Non-Combatant: Not physically dominant, not trained for combat, and not especially physically strong, if Trace is confronted with physical violence she's in real trouble. She is a decent defensive marksman, but hand-to-hand combat? Forget about it.
HISTORY
Tracia Montaire was born on Rendili into a family of upper middle class sensibilities, with a solid reputation in administrative and commercial circles. Her father is a senior executive in a shipping concern with Republic contracts. He taught her to read systems, respect preparation, and never to arrive without knowing who in any room has real authority. Her mother is a legal consultant, who taught Trace about the importance of presentation, discretion, and that no event with powerful individuals present is truly free of politics, no matter what anyone says. She has two siblings: an older brother in naval service with the high Republic, and an older sister who bucked all family tradition by going into the arts and who is now a successful actress.
Trace's childhood was comfortable, if demanding. She went to good schools, had impeccable manners drilled into her early, and was exposed to adults who discussed trade, politics, current events, and law at the dinner table as though these were topics that anyone who could hold a fork should be conversant in. She was not unloved and never felt she was, but her parents raised her to be capable more than happy and fulfilled. Praise was tied to achievement. She learned early that adults spoke freely around a girl they viewed as charming and unthreatening, and that being underestimated was useful if you knew how.
Trace began with a preparatory education on Rendili, and attended university on Coruscant, where she studied political communications and investigative media ethics. She was the sort of student professors remembered because she was not just bright, but exacting. Her strength was always writing and reasoning, which made school reasonably easy for her. She was never content to remain purely studious, though, and engaged in student press, debate, and internships. Upon graduating, she went to work for a Rendili-based publication, where she began as a researcher and background reporter. The small humiliations of proving she was more than a pretty young woman with a good surname proved to be the price of admission as she built her career.
Later, she moved to the prestigious The Beacon (a Camden Media Group publication) with High Republic-wide scope and a serious Theed bureau, where she worked her way up to be one of the magazine's political correspondents.