Jane Quince

"'The thing about Jane is that she seems to experience every emotion at a higher level. She feels so much about so many things that she doesn't know what to do with herself about it.' -Oliver Quince about Jane Quince"Jane Maria Quince (b. 12 July 95) was born in Tierra Lejana to farmers Maria Delacruz and Louis Quince along with her twin brother Oliver. She lived with her parents until 10 May 102, when her parents were killed by invading Regian troops. She and her brother were taken hostage onto a Regian ship where they were rescued by Tomo Yumi and taken to safety on the Sky's Vagabond. She and her brother lived and worked on the ship, under the captainship of Zoe Bellamy until 1 November 107, when Tomo was killed in battle. Quince and her brother began working in Gilli Bergmann's redsmithery. She and her brother left work in the redsmithery in April 111, when she became captain of the Grand Halcon. She worked as an independent merchant up until the Battle of Isla Tiburon in 115.

Early Life (95-102)
Jane Maria Quince was born on 12 July 95 in Stewart's Roost, Tierra Lejana. Her mother, Maria Delacruz, was a Tellian of Altamiran descent. Her father, Louis Quince, was a Tobernechlian immigrant. Her early childhood was peaceful and relaxed. She was a spirited and intelligent child, always willing to read and learn. Her mother was a native speaker of Micholean, and her father was a native speaker of Tobernechlian, though the language spoken in the household was exclusively Regia Novio. The family lived a short ways from town on a small but prosperous sharaba farm. In 102, when she was 7 years old, her hometown was invaded by the Regian army. They broke into the Quince household, and after stealing the few valuables they had, shot Maria and Louis dead. After a brief struggle, the soldiers managed to subdue the twins by knocking them unconscious and taking them aboard the ship they arrived in, bound for Regia to be assimilated into Regian society.

Zoe Bellamy's Crew (102-107)
Upon their arrival on the Regian ship, Quince and Oliver were locked in a holding cell in the brig, where they regained consciousness in time to hear the assault on the ship begin. As Bellamy and her crew fought against the Regian troops, including a young Decima Altair, Tomo Yumi discovered the twins in the brig and released them, bringing them up to safety, along with a number of other Tellian prisoners. Upon arriving back on the shores of Tierra Lejana following the rescue mission, the other prisoners began to find their ways home. It was then that Quince informed the crew that they had no home to go back to. Though some, like Tomo, Jack Rafferty, Waipuna, and Mary Pollux wanted to take the twins into their care, the others, including Sneaky Bill Trent, Vye Yanga, Emmett Coburne, and Annie Donoghue did not initially approve of this idea. However, Bellamy decided that the twins should stay on as cabin boys. Quince and her brother began to work on the Sky's Vagabond, doing menial tasks and assisting with running Bellamy's smuggling business. Tomo assumed the large majority of their care and education at this time. On 31 March 107, the Sky's Vagabond was making a smuggling trip to Rio Claro when she was intercepted by Regian forces looking for smugglers. In the skirmish that ensued, Tomo was killed when he was struck by a Regian bullet in the stomach. He died of blood loss shortly after. Quince, disconsolate and believing that she had lost her only reason to stay with the Sky's Vagabond, left the ship's crew without Bellamy's knowledge the next time they docked in Kellington.

Work at the Redsmithery (107-111)
Quince and her brother, not quite 12 years old, arrived in Kellington penniless and homeless. After several days of sleeping on the streets and begging for scraps of food, a kindly Stutzian redsmith, Gilli Bergmann, took pity on the twins and offered them housing and payment in return for work at the redsmith's shop. Quince and her brother agreed, moving into the tiny, cramped attic room above the shop. They worked for five years in the shop as apprentices, assisting Bergmann in the forging of swords and other tools. On 12 April 111, Quince and her brother left their apprenticeship in the redsmithery, having saved up enough money between them to buy a small but sturdy ship, the Grand Halcon.

Captain of the Grand Halcon (111-115)
In 111, when she was 16, Quince purchased the Grand Halcon and instated her brother Oliver as First Mate. She hired Felix Jimenez to be the Master Gunner and took on the then 12-year-old Pauline Sato as his apprentice. Shortly after buying the ship, but before taking on her role as an independent merchant, Quince and Oliver met Morag Knight after an attempted pickpocketing. Upon learning of her unfortunate past - and her skill for repairs - Quince hired Knight to be the ship's repairman. Not long after, Candles Pasternack approached Quince and offered her a role in his business. At first, Quince was wary about the sometimes illegal nature of his dealings, but she decided that since his deals were not morally wrong, she did not mind. Therefore, the crew of the Grand Halcon became a part of Pasternack's Circle, essentially functioning as transport for goods exchanged in trades made by third parties. In 112, Quince fired Jimenez from his role as Master Gunner, citing irresponsibility and drunkenness as her reason for dismissal. Sato therefore became the Master Gunner. Also in 112, Quince met Lefty in a chance encounter in the Cat and Cleric. Upon learning of Lefty's skill with medicine and healing, she hired Lefty as the ship's medic. In 113, Sebastian Seif joined the crew of the Halcon as the navigator because of a favor Pasternack owed to Seif's father. The non-optional nature of this trade made Quince wary of Seif's presence on her ship, but his skill with navigation did win her over eventually. In late 114, Quince met Cezelia Simoneaux for the first time. Simoneaux, who came to Kellington only recently to look for work, met Quince in a chance encounter in the Kellington docks. Simoneaux, sitting on the docks to eat her lunch, found her sandwich stolen by a garaloon. In her attempt to retrieve her lunch, Simoneaux, still not in full control of her magic, accidentally hit Quince with a stream of water originally intended for the bird. Oliver was able to talk some sense into both of them, and eventually, Quince agreed to hire Simoneaux as a crew member.

Cezelia Simoneaux
Quince and Zelia had a rocky relationship for many years after they first met, in part due to Quince's refusal to recognize the validity and usefulness of Zelia's ubukatha, as well as Zelia's tendency to disregard Quince's authority as ship captain. The two met in late 114 in Kellington through a chance encounter, and immediately began to antagonize each other. It was only through Quince's respect for Oliver's judgement that she allowed Zelia to join the crew of the Halcon. Throughout the early months of 115, the two argued with each other more often than not. Though she did not realize it at the time, a good part of Quince's anger at Zelia was due to her own repressed feelings towards Zelia. By the spring of 115, however, the two had developed a tentative friendship - though arguments were still common. One night in mid-April, Quince had found Zelia sitting on the deck of the Halcon looking at the stars, as Quince often did as well. The two found themselves caught up in a conversation about how they got to that point - Quince telling Zelia about working in the redsmithery, and Zelia telling Quince about her years training as an umakatha. However, their relationship became strained again in mid-June when Zelia confessed her romantic feelings towards Quince and was immediately rejected. The arrival of Kathleen Sokolov into their lives complicated matters even further. Zelia's unrepentant flirting with Kathleen infuriated Quince, due to her own very confused feelings towards both girls - though she explained it as being frustrated with the unprofessionalism of flirting between crewmates.

Quince's feelings