Noelle Brigitte Murphy (also known as Noelle Stull) was a young up-timer employed by the New United States state department, who became something of an undercover troubleshooter. Uncertain of her vocation, Murphy had a talent for looking at things a bit differently and so in the world of bureaucrats, was a somewhat uncomfortable subordinate to have. Having an unhappy family situation in Grantville—she was literally a bastard born out of wedlock, she contemplated becoming a nun for a time when Mike Stearns and Ed Piazza recruited her as a special envoy to investigate likely sales of advanced guns to enemy countries.