Polly Perks

Sergeant Polly "Ozzer" Perks
Polly Perks as drawn by John Howe
Name	Polly Perks
Race	Human
Age	19
Occupation	Soldier, formerly barmaid
Physical appearance	Plain, skinny, boyish, blonde
Residence	The Duchess Inn, Munz, Borogravia
Death
Parents	Mother dead, father courting
Relatives	Paul Perks, brother; Cousin Vlopo.
Children
Marital Status
Appearances
Books	Monstrous Regiment
Cameos

Polly Perks is a sergeant in the Borogravian Tenth Foot regiment, known colloquially as the Ins-and-Outs or the Cheesemongers. She originally enlisted in order to search for her brother, Paul, who at that time was missing in action; Nugganatic law would not have allowed her to inherit the family business without him and the inn could go to Cousin Volopo, a notorious drunkard. However, under the instruction of the legendary Sergeant Jackrum, she discovered an aptitude for the soldiering life she'd never suspected she had, and even after she was found out for a woman, she fought to stay on as a soldier. She was allowed to do so primarily owing to the intervention of the dead Grand Duchess Annagovia.

Polly gained a certain amount of notoriety on the international stage as the young soldier who kneed Prince Heinrich of Zlobenia in the groin, through the medium of a Times political cartoon, drawn by Fizz. On her advice, Jackrum went into retirement with his family after the end of the present conflict. When Heinrich seemed likely to invade again, however, he sent her his cutlasses and, far more significantly, his book of names of officers he knew to be women. With a metaphorical torch passed, and in possession of a great deal of potential blackmail material, she therefore came out of her relative inactivity back at the family inn (with her brother home and safe) for a future career of unknown, but presumably interesting, nature.