I knew Josephine was masquerading as Joe as she made her first journey from the Castor cottage across the Bridge of Broken Souls and down into the bowels of the citadel and the secrets of the Assachamber. At first, Josephine was a little more frivolous, but as she took shape, she quickly developed into a character made from sterner material. Josephine highlights the hypocrisy of a capable girl being denied a role exclusively set aside for the male line, while Gastown and the citadel itself are ruled by autocratic women. Josephine also provides an outsider’s perspective of the citadel.

While Josephine conforms under the guise of her dead brother, at home she is rebellious by nature. She challenges her father and the Burghmeister council, and the natural order of things. She wants to be an agent of change, but does not quite know how to bring it about. The overthrow of the Var presents her with the opportunity.