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[Michael Quartermaine]

OOC Information
Preferred Form of Address on A&A: Jess
Contact Information: AIM- bigbellyfatbob
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IC Information
Name: Michael Quartermaine

Avatar: David Morrissey

Occupation: Physician

Age: 35

Gender: Male

Appearance: Michael’s face is drawn into a rather severe appearance, with frown-lines etched between his heavy eyebrows and a mouth that turns downwards. He has deep-set, light grey eyes underneath a pronounced brow ridge. His face is bluff, somewhat round, with a rather short chin, and a strongly Grecian nose. However, somehow, even while his face does not look like it would easily smile, it does. And he is completely unconscious of his usual frown.

Standng five feet eleven inches, he is comparatively tall, and broad-shouldered. A considerable bulk is somewhat disguised by his clothing, in dark and sober colours. His figure is settling out a little around the midsection, but he does not have a pronounced paunch yet, only a slight thickening. He has a gentle, rather slow way with words, usually speaking in a low tone. An Irish lilt has remained more pronounced in his voice than in his brother’s. Dark-brown hair is usually kept neatly combed, and he is clean-shaven as well.

Personality:
Michael is a relatively calm man, with easy and soft-spoken manners. Never overly anxious to please, he is determined to put others at their ease, however. A natural courtesy is supported by his honesty and warmth. While he is not a man of elegant speech – in fact, he is not above average address - he is frank and good-natured. He might be accused of being dull and boring, which is probably true to some extent, depending upon his audience. His mind tends to work along more sedate paths, and although he is far from stupid he is not especially fast upon his verbal feet.

He is, instead, settled – much as in his midsection, he has matured in his mind and in his habits. Fully capable of making a decision rapidly in an emergency, Michael nonetheless prefers to think things over before he starts into anything. He also prefers to do only one thing at a time, applying himself in a rational and efficient method until each task is completed in turn, instead of trying to keep track of half a dozen things at once. It is difficult to shake him out of this. The positive side of this is his very long and elastic patience.

A man of very domestic tastes (it might be argued even rustic), he enjoys the simple pleasures of life – good food, a warm seat by the fire, and the company of good friends or family. He is very fond of animals, and owns several dogs – lolloping creatures of indeterminate ancestry and questionable habits, but Michael won’t hear a word against them. He dislikes any intrusion into his private life, and is very happy with the prospect of living out a long, sedentary, and quiet bachelorhood.

He has grown increasingly close to his brother Nolan and his family, looking out for his niece and nephew almost as if they were his own family. His brother and he share many of their habits, and Michael sees to the veterinary care of Nolan’s horses when necessary; he’s never forgotten his earliest career as a farrier, and is still as good with a horse as he ever was. Phelan, Michael has some idea of sending to medical school when he is old enough; he has not brought this up with either Nolan or Phelan, but has been considering it for some time – he has yet to find a way to broach the subject without offending Nolan’s touchy sense of honour, though.

His upstanding status is perhaps more a matter of habit than of dedicated morality. However, Michael has a set of principles, upon which he would explain his life to be founded. Integrity is first and foremost: his father taught him to be honest, and so he has remained. Kindness a close second, doing right by others when he is able to help, and justice behind that. Somewhere in all of that ought to be going to Church, but though he is a Christian, he is very irregular about his devotions. It is only when he remembers, or (more often) is prompted to do so, that he is seen to be religious.

Professionally, Michael does not tend to experiment, and generally goes with tried-and-true methods unless a patient is in a desperate case. Much of his practice is based off solid common sense. With several years of experience under his belt, he has the background to know what works. Well-respected and trusted, his practice attends mainly to the middle and lower classes.

History:
Michael was a middle child; born into the crowded household of the Quartermaine farm in Ireland, he was the fifth born and the third son. Never precisely forgotten, he was, however, often overlooked; quieter than some of his more boisterous siblings, he learned to work from an early age, and undertook his responsibilities with a seriousness unusual in a child. Three of his brothers and sisters died in their childhood, when scarlet fever swept through the region. His memories of the sickroom stayed with him as he grew up, and in part contributed to the interest he took in the animals that took ill on the farm.

He would look after the sheep that were not doing well, and in lambing-time Michael’s small hands were very useful when the ewes had a difficult time. He could be counted on to take the unthrifty or orphaned lambs in and raise them carefully and lovingly by hand. With the horses, too, he worked well: Michael would tag along behind his older brother Nolan at the stables to learn to handle them. He watched the animals as closely as if they were his own children, and would sit up with them late into the night if they were not doing well.

After his older brother left the farm, to go to the city, Michael was the oldest boy in the household. The care of the animals had very naturally fallen into his hands, and as his father aged he left more and more of the work to him; he was well-suited for it. Michael, however, did not want to spend the rest of his life on the farm, although since Nolan had given up his inheritance he was the next in line to own the land. He had the idea of going further. His education had all been at the village school, and while he could read, write, and cipher, Michael knew that that was not where he wanted to end.

At fourteen, he persuaded his father to allow him to apprentice himself to the local farrier and learn the trade. Michael had a remarkable aptitude for the work, being able to calm and control a horse readily. He had been working for about a year when, returning from the market, he chanced upon the local doctor on the road. The man’s horse had set a foot wrong in a rabbit-hole and strained a tendon; the doctor had been thrown and was badly injured. Michael helped the man back to his home, and then, forgetting his other business, set to work seeing that the horse was cared for.

A few days later, Dr Barton came to the farrier’s looking for Michael. He had seen the way the boy worked, and thought his calm and steady hands, as well as his sense, would be useful. He offered Michael a position as his assistant, and Michael was only too glad to accept. He had only one request, to have access to the doctor’s library and knowledge.

He learned quickly, working hard in his spare time to make up for all the years he had lost. Dr Barton watched his progress with amazement and some admiration; he became gradually more fond of Michael as time went by. The doctor was a single man, with no children, and his nearest relative was a distant cousin. He saw in Michael something approaching a son. When the boy was nineteen he offered Michael the chance that he had been dreaming of. Dr Barton said that if Michael chose to go, he would sponsor him to attend Trinity College in Dublin, for medical school.

Michael leapt at the chance – but he failed the entrance examinations. He had not read widely enough, nor was he more than hesitant with Greek and Latin, and he was not prepared for the questions asked on the exams. Returning back to Dr Barton’s house, Michael believed himself to be in disgrace, and offered to return to work at the farrier’s again – all he thought he was fit for. Dr Barton took exception to this outlook, and refused to allow him to leave his house. Pulling Michael away from his duties as an assistant, he set the boy to his books, driving him to study at all hours. Michael had lost twenty pounds of weight and had Greek and Latin pouring out of his ears, as well as a thorough academic grounding, by the time he returned to try again at the college the next year.

Not only did he pass, but he did so with flying colours; he came two names away on the pass-list from becoming a Foundation scholar. He entered into the study of medicine with renewed hope and insatiable curiousity, though he was slightly older than many of the other students. Keeping much to himself, he was noted for being bookish and reserved. He had a few friends, all of a similar stripe, and corresponded with his family and his mentor; that was enough society for his happiness. Three years of intense study over the wide range of medicine brought him to the completion of his first degree and the proudest achievement of his life. He was now Dr Quartermaine, a qualified surgeon and physician.

After his reaching his Bachelor's he went directly to work as an intern in one of Dublin’s hospitals while he attended further coursework in the pursuit of a higher doctorate. This was not easy work: the pay was not high, as the hospital tended mainly to the urban poor. The case load was impossible for the understaffed doctors and nurses to shoulder. But it was valuable experience for Michael, who learned firsthand the vital importance of sanitation. This lesson was perhaps more useful than anything else he had gathered. In the calmer private practice of Dr Barton, cleanliness had been hit-or-miss, but it had not made a markedly discernible difference. In the poor-hospital, the effects of dirt were pronounced in the increase of infections and in the severity of disease.

The work wore him out, however, and within five years (two years after he completed his MD) Michael could not bear up any longer. His own health was seriously endangered after he contracted influenza. Moving away from Dublin, he searched for a position at a private practice. Michael drew a blank in Ireland; Dr Barton was still hale and hearty and despite his fondness for Michael, he was not prepared to just hand over his practice and retire – nor would Michael have asked him to. However, Michael had written to his surviving older brother of his plans, and to his surprise Nolan wrote back informing him of an opening as the junior partner of a practice in Lindebo. Traveling to England, he applied for the position and found himself settling down comfortably in the new city.

His work here was of a far different sort than at the hospital in Dublin. He made house-calls on the middle-class for the most part, and though as the junior partner he also saw the majority of their less wealthy clients, it was still an atmosphere that allowed him to regain his health and his energy. He has remained in Lindebo ever since, upwards of six years now. About two months ago he left for London on business for the partnership, but returned from his trip early when he received a letter from Nolan. His niece, Shannon, had tried to kill herself. He posted back as quickly as he could, to offer his brother’s family whatever help he was able to.

Strengths:

• Intelligent
• Educated
• Has a comfortable financial competence
• Honest
• Level-headed

Weaknesses:

• Sedentary habits and increasing weight
• Somewhat nosy and interfering
• Not witty
• Poor multitasker
• Animal lover (bleeding heart, tends to pick up strays a lot)

Weapons:
N/A

Picture:
Coming sooooon

[Etcetera]

Yay! Totally approved! I løve him.

[Mjinga]

Sweet, he's in.