Fanon:Savannah Plumb

Savannah Rachel Bellingham Plumb (ruh-SHELL) was born in Sunset Valley to Nathan Jolina-Plumb and his longtime partner, Shandra Bellingham Plumb. She is, thus, the granddaughter of Jamie Jolina and Nigel Plumb. Her birth took place right after her parents moved into their grand estate at Summer Hill Court, so she was born to privilege. Her status as Nathan's favorite child was never in doubt from the beginning; as his only daughter, she curried favor from him that his other children could not get. She alone of his children shares his blond hair and pale complexion.

Early Years
Savannah was named after a street in Twinbrook, her mother's birthplace. Her privileged upbringing began in earnest at Summer Hill Court. Her education was begun quickly. In the early years, it was overseen by her aunt, Margaret Plumb, and by her mother. They started off normally, by teaching the little girl to walk, talk, and toilet. Then they went with peg and xylophone toys and proceeded to skill books. As a child she was a bit of a tomboy, much to the consternation of her mother. Nearly every day Savannah was coming home with notes from school, saying that she’d been in fights with boys.

But that wasn’t the only thing unusual about Savannah. She was an incredibly serious child who almost never smiled. When she was at home, the sober little girl would often be found exploring her aunt’s bookcase or painting on her mother’s easel. No one in the family could recall Savannah ever playing with a traditional children’s toy.

Rebellious Teen
Savannah never lacked for self-confidence. It had been drummed in her by her father, who thought the world of her, and who, both willingly and un-wittingly, undermined his wife’s efforts to rein her in at every turn. Though Nathan Plumb had other children, Savannah was clearly his favorite. She took full advantage of this and knew how to manipulate her father into doing (and purchasing) exactly what she wanted

Most adolescents engage in some form of rebellion. It is the nature of being an adolescent- a function of breaking away from family and growing up. Savannah Plumb was no exception. The only difference was, since she was the Plumb family princess, her exploits were being recorded for the Sim world to see. There’s no question that she was rebellious, but the degree of her rebellion is disputed.

It is true that she was skipping school, and not doing her homework, and getting brought home by the police. But by all accounts, she wasn’t drinking -- or smoking -- or doing any of the ‘normal’ rebellious things teenagers do. Savannah spent her time in the library reading, or at the art gallery, or exploring the catacombs in the cemetery. Hardly the picture of the ‘out of control teen’ that she has depicted herself as.

An Adventurer's Life
When Savannah graduated from high school -- with honors -- she didn’t have anything in mind to do with herself. Then came the advertisement from MorcuCorp, searching for intrepid adventurers to travel the world. She leapt at the opportunity to leave the friendly confines of Sunset Valley and see new places and meet new people.

Savannah made Egypt her first destination, and she positively fell in love with the place. It was there where she found at least some measure of what she apparently was looking for. She found herself forced to take sides in a massive plot to plunder the Egyptian town of Al-Simhara of its ancient riches.

She found herself enjoying the peripatetic, vagabond lifestyle. She enjoyed living from a suitcase, living on the run, spending days combing ancient ruins for treasure and solving the mysteries of the ancients.

It was accentuated by Savannah’s own tomboyish ways, which came fully to the fore as she athletically traversed ancient tombs. Like her father she is actually quite athletic and loves physical activity. This lifestyle was, in many ways, a perfect fit for her.

But something happened that complicated matters for her. Something changed her life.

Becoming a Mom
While on her grand quest to uncover the Three Ancient Relics of Al-Simhara, Savannah encountered Satis Amin, a young Egyptian child, in the streets of Al-Simhara. She connected to the little girl like she’d never connected to anyone else in her life -- not her parents, not her schoolmates, not her siblings. They were seen everywhere together, especially the town marketplace. Not long after that, Savannah learned that Satis had a twin brother, Imsety. It took her a lot longer to connect with him than it did with Satis.

According to Savannah’s own account of the events, she looked around for the children’s parents and she couldn’t find them. She would eventually learn their identities -- Samir and Fatima -- the former a powerful mob boss disguising himself as a bookstore owner, the latter having left the family in fear of her husband.

Savannah did find an ally among the Al-Simhara townsfolk -- Layla Lufti. A tall, exotic beauty, Layla was the point person guiding Savannah through her quest for the relics. According to Layla, Savannah initially didn’t give her any indication she was planning to adopt the children -- but as time went on, it was becoming clear that, she was forming a bond with them.

Savannah continued her quest for the relics at the same time she was seeking custody of the children. While still in a tomb, Savannah Plumb filed legal papers to adopt Satis and Imsety Amin.

This made headlines on both sides of the Atlantic and on three continents. It also caused outrage in the family. Shandra, Savannah's mother, was so deeply incredulous by this development that she persuaded Nathan to accompany her to Egypt to see what was going on. Neither Nathan nor Shandra were able to convince Savannah to abandon her pursuit of adoption. She adopted the children and returned to Sunset Valley with them and her then-fiance, Andrew Cheesman.

Writing Career
Upon her return from Egypt, Savannah began her writing career in earnest, using her proceeds from her books to fund further expeditions abroad. She rocketed to fame on the strength of her debut novel, Interview with a Mummy, which was a runaway best seller and a thinly veiled autobiography. In Interview with a Mummy, archaeologist Saffron Palmer, after a troubled adolescence, seeks ancient relics in Egypt. Most Sims reading the book knew that "Saffron Palmer" was a pseudonym for Savannah Plumb. Still, they gobbled up the book anyway. Her follow-up book was almost as successful. Entitled Dances with Ghosts, this novel detailed her paranormal experiences. Her third novel, due out in December 2011, is called Alys in Wonderland.

Personal life
Savannah married Andrew Cheesman, a reserve forward for the Sim City Llamas soccer team and a former high school classmate. Andrew had pursued her from afar ever since high school. Together the two are currently (as of this writing) raising five children: the aforementioned Imsety and Satis, adopted from Egypt, and three biological children -- AJ, a teen; Sage Margaret (originally named Sage-blossom Margaret), a child; and Sierra Myst, a toddler. Sage Margaret was named in honor of Savannah's aunt, the prolific novelist Margaret Plumb, who died when Savannah was a teenager.