Dorothea

Biodata

Background

Dorothea is reputed to be the top student at Miskatonic University's medical school. She attends classes during the day and works at night as “Crow,” an underground doctor serving the Wild Dog Gang. She takes the risk because she needs both money and surgical experience that the university cannot provide 10 29.

She explains that the impending Poor Law will trap commoner medical students: without a diploma, they cannot legally gain practical experience, but obtaining a diploma requires passing a practical examination. Wealthy merchants and nobles can arrange opportunities unavailable to commoners 10.

Appearance

Dorothea has short, chestnut-colored hair 11 46.

• During the plague: She returns from the investigation with a bloodstained head bandage, facial scrapes, and an apparent leg injury 44.
• As Miss Crow: While assisting at the Harbor District treatment station, she wears a large hood that hides most of her face 46.

Personality

Dorothea is guarded about her identity and quick to challenge suspicious behavior. When Vanessa recognizes her, she initially responds with hostility, then tests Vanessa's university background with a question about the weight of gold and cotton. Vanessa's bewilderment over the conflicting units persuades her that the claim of holding two degrees is credible 10.

Her manner is blunt, impatient, and often teasing. She jokes that Vanessa should replace her “useless personality” with the one capable of fighting, but also repeatedly offers to help her contact Randall for treatment. Her surgical confidence can be alarming: she describes cutting away part of the frontal lobe through the eye socket as a ten-minute minor operation 11 16 29.

She is protective of patients' privacy and willing to act decisively in emergencies. She stops Vanessa from questioning Winnie about her condition and later shoots infected people immediately after death to prevent their transformation. Her composure does not mean indifference: she grieves for Winnie, bitterly criticizes the authorities' abandonment of the Harbor District, and shows deep frustration over the failed attempt to destroy the Plague Core 28 44 45 46.

Abilities & Skills

Medicine and Surgery

Dorothea combines a strong academic reputation with clandestine practical experience 10.

• Inspects medicines and surgical instruments delivered to the Wild Dog Gang 10 11.
• Provides medical care under the name Crow and assists the Harbor District's emergency treatment effort 28 46.
• Proposes an ice-pick procedure through the eye socket to remove part of Vanessa's frontal lobe; Vanessa refuses 11.
• Has not yet obtained her medical license 11.

Marksmanship

Miss Crow is known throughout the Wild Dog Gang for carrying a gun and using it well 49.

• Shoots Eli's infected mother after she dies, preventing her from becoming a monster 46.
• Continues firing as necessary while the makeshift medical station treats plague victims 46.
• States that her pistol is her only direct-combat option; she has no supernatural means for fighting 50.

Investigation and Supernatural Knowledge

Dorothea participates in university investigations and knows terminology associated with supernatural organizations and abilities 29 49 50.

• Helps trace Mad Rat Disease beneath the East District 45.
• Knows enough about the Circle of Vitas to question whether Vanessa's physical combat abilities fit its transcendents 49.
• Recognizes the Secret-Keeping Society's “Sunken Knower” designation and associates it with Premonition Vision 50.
• Remains an unofficial investigator; the provided events establish no supernatural combat ability of her own 50.

Psychological Knowledge

Dorothea recommends Randall as a master hypnotist and psychotherapist and writes Vanessa a referral letter 11 29.

• Advises that another doctor's treatment records can support a psychiatric patient's account 29.
• Later says she knows “a little psychoanalysis” when concerned about Vanessa's behavior 45.

Equipment

• Revolver/pistol — Her principal weapon and stated means of direct combat 46 50.
• Surgical kit — Includes the ice pick and hammer she produces when proposing brain surgery for Vanessa 11.
• Large hood — Conceals most of her face while she works among Harbor District residents 46.
• Matches — She prepares to use one to test the air before descending into an abandoned sewer 50.

Relationships

• Vanessa — Initially a delivery worker whose identity she verifies for the Wild Dog Gang; later a friend, prospective investigation partner, and rescue companion. Dorothea offers medical referrals, considers hiring her as muscle, and becomes increasingly puzzled by her combat and navigation abilities 11 16 28 29 49 50.
• Winnie — A patient whose privacy Dorothea defends. She urges Winnie to rest and seek help from Allen or the gang, later informs Vanessa of her death, and helps secure Winnie's body to Vanessa's back 28 44 49.
• Randall — Assigns Dorothea an investigation. She also refers Vanessa to him for hypnosis and psychotherapy 11 29.
• Professor Rosalie — Leads the university team Dorothea joins to investigate the infectious disease spreading in the East District 29.
• Doctor Norman — Works alongside her during the plague response. Dorothea challenges him about the Circle of Vitas and intervenes when his urgency overlooks Vanessa's grief 44 45 46.
• Allen — A Wild Dog Gang associate whose alarm over Vanessa brings armed gang members to Dorothea's room. Dorothea defuses the misunderstanding and assures Vanessa that he is not a bad person 11.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Meeting Vanessa

Vanessa first meets Dorothea while delivering medical supplies to the Wild Dog Gang. After recognizing her from university, she learns why Dorothea practices illegally and how the new Poor Law threatens commoner students' careers. Armed gang members interrupt, believing Vanessa poses a danger to Miss Crow 10.

Dorothea clears up the misunderstanding. When Vanessa asks for help with apparent hallucinations, Dorothea proposes surgery, then recommends Randall after Vanessa refuses. Their later conversations develop into an ongoing friendship 11 16.

Recruiting for the East District Investigation

After hearing rumors of the “Mad Caregiver,” Dorothea asks whether Vanessa can fight and offers her work as hired muscle. Vanessa's explanation that another personality handles combat prompts teasing and a referral to Randall 28 29.

Dorothea subsequently leaves with Professor Rosalie's team to investigate the East District's infectious disease. The team follows leads underground but fails to destroy the Plague Core 29 45 46.

Plague Relief and the Corpse Carriage

Dorothea returns injured and tells Vanessa that Winnie is dead. She accompanies the university group and Norman toward the disaster area, where the authorities have abandoned the Harbor District beyond their defensive line 44 45.

At the emergency treatment station, she helps manage the danger of infected bodies transforming after death. When a hospital corpse carriage arrives carrying Winnie, Dorothea demands the return of her body and tries to withdraw with Vanessa as the confrontation escalates 46 47.

Vanessa defeats the armed guards before Dorothea can fire. Dorothea questions why Vanessa spares them, then reflects on her claim that people only repent after experiencing suffering themselves. She helps Vanessa carry Winnie and follows her away from the carriage 49.

Rescue Mission

Rather than seek safety beyond the cordon, Dorothea follows Vanessa toward people surrounded by plague-infected corpses. Vanessa's precise navigation through unfamiliar streets and abandoned sewers leaves her increasingly astonished. Despite admitting that she has only a gun for combat, Dorothea continues with her to the besieged building 50.

Notable Quotes

“It's only commoners whose path to studying medicine has been cut off.” 10

“Don't go prying into other people's medical conditions!” 28

“Let me make this clear first. I'm not an official investigator yet. I don't have any supernatural means for direct combat... just this gun.” 50

Trivia

• On Elliot's Difference Engine, her card changes from [Mysterious girl] to [Dorothea] after Vanessa recognizes her 10.
• By the rescue mission, she appears as [Dorothea Ramsey]. Elliot cannot control her card even though she has become Vanessa's teammate 50.