Alma Mater
Run 3: 26th-29th March 2026
Blanche
a Nun
Age:
mid 20s - early 30s
Psalm 45: All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold
Themes:
Bullying & betraying others; being an outsider; high birth; consensual sexual contact with a man; being pregnant (optional)
You are the newest arrival at Whitwood, though you are already a full nun. You transferred here from the fashionable Syon Abbey only a few weeks ago. You are the daughter of a wealthy Bedfordshire knight. Your father brought you up alone after your mother died while you were still a child. As his only surviving child, he lavished all his love and attention on you.
At 15, your father managed to secure you a place as a maid to Queen Katherine, and the next couple of years were some of the happiest of your life. Unfortunately, life at court proved to be a minefield. You were seduced by one of the King’s favourites, and word got back to the Queen. You were dismissed back to your father in disgrace, and the man who seduced you turned out to already be married.
You returned home, but found that your father had begun to sicken in your absence. He soon went to God, and the family estate fell into the hands of the King, via the Lord Chancellor Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell wanted you out of the way and out of line of inheritance, so he arranged a place for you in the prestigious Syon Abbey.
Role:
Where they hold no named role within the community, the first and greatest role of the nuns is to pray and sing the psalms. Beyond this, they are required simply to be holy in their behaviour and to keep the Rule.
Connections:
Katherine, a novice
On the face of it, Katherine could be the perfect friend to you. You're roughly similar age and class - and she's Sir Thomas’ sister so you love hearing about her stories of home (though you haven't spilt the beans on your secret). On the other hand, she’s such a stickler for the rules. She seems to think she can tell you how to behave - even though she is just a novice and you are her senior. Perhaps with a bit of shaping you can mould her into what you would like her to be?
Bess, the Novice Mistress
Secrets:
You are in love with Sir Thomas Olney
One day at Syon Abbey, their Abbess hosted Viscount Rochford, Queen Anne’s brother, along with a number of his entourage, including Sir Thomas, son of the Baron of Olney. Sir Thomas was handsome, charming, and of high social status, so naturally, you fell in love with him at first sight. The noble party only stayed a week or two, but you moved as quickly as you could, and soon, the two of you were finding secret moments to kiss away from the other sisters.
When the guests moved on from Syon, you started writing secret love letters, and Sir Thomas replied in kind. Syon’s proximity to Hampton Court Palace allowed him to visit you from time to time, and this culminated in a night of passion and lovemaking in the deer park outside Syon. When you returned in the early hours, you had the misfortune to be discovered climbing the wall by the Prioress. This proved to be the final straw for Syon, leading them to find a way to expel you: they sent you to Whitwood. This hasn’t completely thwarted your affair: you get fewer letters from Thomas these days, but some get through - hidden in the food deliveries to the Cellaress. You have a silver love token from Sir Thomas