The Lady of Ben Bison is famous (or notorious) for the very relaxed nature of her rule. She is out-spoken regarding her beliefs in commoner equality, opinions which saw her banished from her knightly fief of Cricket Hill in Chicago.
But her strong Reformist leanings attracted the attention of Countess Rosamund, who was faced with the task, ordered by her duchess,
of finding a sidhe ruler for the ancient eyrie of Ben Bison Brugh, which had been in commoner hands since the Shattering.
Reluctantly, Dame Ausmandine agreed to accept the fief, and was made a baroness.
Ausmandine has ruled Ben Bison for several years, acting more as a facilitator for settling internal disputes amongst its inhabitants, as a liason to the Seelie sidhe hegemony and representative to the Parliament of Dreams.
In that time, her leadership has been untroubled, and she has been able to handle the Brugh's affairs without once having given a command. She is very proud of this record,
and has sworn an oath never to use the Sovereign Art to uphold her authority.
Although Ausmandine resides permenantly at the Freehold, she is careful to avoid bedlam, working in mortal seeming (she is known as Mandy Finney) as a waitress, and doing other community service work in her free time, blending easily with the local alternative community, which dates from the hippie
"back to the land" movement of the late sixties.
When working at the Blue Ridge Cafe in Floyd town,
she wears her hair bobby-pinned up in a tidy bun, but otherwise lets it hang free to
her waist, save for braided strands at either temple which hang over her shoulders.
She carries herself like the more contemporary sort of hippie-chick,
favoring India-cotton skirts, ethnic jewelry and purple-lensed granny glasses.
Her manner is open and warm, her movements unconsciously graceful.
In her fae mien, Lady Ausmandine is not so very different,
although her quirky good looks smoothe into an exotic
beauty, her ears taking on the elegant leaf-shape indicative of
her kith, and her nut-brown hair takes on a deep, silken lustre.
Her voile consists of red hunting leathers worn with a full crimson brocade skirt and high supple boots, and a noble sword,
"Peace-Maker", hangs between her shoulders, slung from a baldric.
A slender silver circlet binds her hair back from her brow.
