Alex Tate (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
oneofthelost) wrote2013-01-10 07:53 pm
oneofthelost) wrote2013-01-10 07:53 pm
Application - [ ooc ]
Mun
Name:
Lynn
Livejournal/Dreamwidth Username:
sepiaepiphany [DW]
E-mail:
dreamsofharlequin@gmail.com.
AIM/MSN:
celia0sword [AIM]
Current Characters at Luceti:
Clove - shenevermisses
Faith - charitylovehopefaith
Character
Name:
Alexandra "Alex" Marie Tate
Gender:
Female
Age:
19
Wing Color:
Grey, speckled black and white
Physical Appearance:
Alex stands 5'5". She is underweight, though not so much as to be only skin and bones. Her brown hair is never longer than her shoulder blades or shorter than her shoulders. She has green eyes. On her back, she hsa a tattoo that reads "Semper Fidelis".
History:
Alex was raised by Demetri and Stacy Tate. Demetri was a member of the United States Marines, and his family traveled with him, so Alex grew up on military bases and temporary housing. Her father retired just before her thirteenth birthday, and the Tate family moved to the suburban Midwest.
Two weeks before Christmas, Alex and her father were out shopping for a present for Stacy. On their way walking home, three men appeared, as if from nowhere. All three were distinct: one had a burn up his neck, one was very tall, and one had extremely pale eyes. The man with pale eyes grabbed Alex, showed her long, sharp fangs, and threw her aside. Alex remembers nothing from that moment until twelve hours later.
Alex woke up in the hospital. She was told her father was killed, and the hospital kept physicians and psychiatrists on hand for her. She did her best to help the police, remaining reasonably calm and describing the attackers, but her constant assertion that one of the men, at least, was a vampire worried almost everyone. One night, she woke up screaming about the man with the burn standing over her, refusing to relent even after seeing the surveillance footage of the hallway, which showed it being completely empty. Even after being sedated and woken, she persisted, and several doctors felt it was indicative of deeper trauma than anticipated.
On her mother's suggestion, she spent eighteen months in a psychiatric care center for adolescents. It was believed that she'd had a psychotic break due to her trauma. Alex did what the doctors told her, including therapy and medication. As soon as it was allowed, Stacy checked her out for evenings and weekends, always asking about her progress and encouraging her. Alex was released two days before she turned fifteen.
Stacy, left an exceptional amount of money by her husband, took up her aunt's offer to move into her house on the east coast, as Gladys was moving to a retirement community for active seniors. Alex was as eager for a fresh start as her mother, so she agreed quickly. The pair moved to Middletown, Delaware. Stacy took a part-time job, and Alex finally settled into a school permanently and started to make friends.
In Alex's senior year, after the winter break, her English teacher was replaced by a long-term substitute, Steven Prewitt. He had the class read Dracula just as girls began to turn up dead in the area. They were all fifteen to eighteen with brown hair and light eyes. The girls, six in total, were all stabbed multiple times and their throats cut, drained of all blood. Alex began to (due to timing, assignments, and what seems like advances on her) suspect Prewitt.
One night, after a text from her best friend Lucy on a strange phone, Alex went out to retrieve her from a party where she'd been drinking and didn't feel safe driving or staying there the night. Alex, without a car that night, went out on foot, planning to drive Lucy's car back. The text proved to be a fake, sent by the serial killer, who had decided to make Alex his next victim. The man attacked, and Alex recognized the burn on his neck, marking him as one of the men who had killed her father. He also, when he had Alex down, revealed himself as a vampire. Before he could bite Alex's neck, Prewitt pulled him off. Prewitt showed his own fangs and told the man, whom he addressed as Joshua, that Alex was under the protection of Claudius Fitzregina, the head of a noble house. That was sufficient to scare Joshua off temporarily. Prewitt gave Alex an amulet with Claudius's seal, assuring her that it would keep her safe.
Alex spoke to Prewitt the next day. He taught her about the strengths and weaknesses of vampires. They could be killed by piercing the heart for over an hour or separating the head from the body for the same amount of time. In daylight, they were as mortal as anyone, stripped of their powers until the sun went down. He also explained the politics of their world. An Assembly made laws and kept order, but some rogue vampires always defied them. Prewitt told Alex he'd known her father and revealed that Demitri had also been a vampire. Because of her blood, Alex was ideally suited, Prewitt said, to work for the Assembly, enforce their laws, and hunt vampires who broke them, including the men who killed her father. Alex agreed to the task, mostly to get justice for her father.
Alex found Joshua before he came after her again. Joshua revealed that he worked for a man named Matthias, but he did not know why Matthias had ordered Alex dead. It was her he had been looking for, but he'd had so general a description that he had been killing any girl who matched it. Alex fought Joshua and barely came out of it alive, though she did manage to kill him. Alex blamed her injuries on a hit-and-run car accident.
Prewitt taught Alex about the five lost noble lines: Báthory, Blagojević, Borgia, Rasputin, and Tepes. The Tepes line, he told her, could not be revived, being the blood of Dracula. Prewitt explained that there was magic guarding the castles in which the echoes (ghosts of the heads of those houses who could not influence the world beyond the thresholds of their once-residences) of the lines could be found. Each echo would ask her to prove something about herself, some quality they thought made someone worthy. To even cross the threshold, both mortal and vampire blood must be offered, making a dhampir (a half-vampire) perfect for the task. If Alex could prove herself to the echoes, they would grant her their house's power, previously lost to the vampires, and allow her to restart their lines. Prewitt confided in Alex that her father had been the last descendant of one of the lost lines, though he had not been able to find out for certain which it was. Alex agreed to the task and started with Báthory, believing it sounded most like the few parts of her father's history she knew, the most likely to be the house she belonged to.
Though it took her a few weeks, Alex finally tracked down Matthias. Alex learned that he was the pale-eyed man who had led the attack on her father. He beat her easily, nearly killing her. She survived only because Prewitt intervened.
Her defeat prompted Prewitt to explain he would awaken the power in Alex's vampire blood, making her a true dhampir. Alex agreed, and she allowed herself to be hypnotized. She dreamed of blood and castles and battles and heard her father and other men speaking. When she woke, Prewitt warned her about coming nightmares, blood lust, severe weight loss, and sensory overload. The symptoms (caused by her body adjusting to the new vampyric influence at night) lasted ten days, three longer than Prewitt had expected them to and warned her for.
Fully awakened to her dhampir nature, Alex sought out the third man from her past, Connor. He was also an agent of Matthias. With her sharpened senses, rapid healing, and improved strength, she killed Connor with ease. She learned from him a few of Matthias's preferred hideouts and swore herself to finding him.
A few days after the death of Connor, Claudius appeared to Alex in a dream, assuring her that he and Prewitt would always protect her. He told her he had sent Prewitt to find her, to make sure she was safe from the attack he knew Matthias had planned for her. He confessed to feeling a deep pull to Alex and being reminded of his lost love, his wife who had died long ago. He encouraged her to seek out the lost lines and start them anew. The next day, when she came to him with questions, Prewitt explained the power of vampires to communicate through dreams with anyone, mortal or vampire. Alex promised Prewitt she'd practice her own and hone the ability. Two nights after that, an aged man appeared in Alex's dream. He seemed to threaten her if she continued associating with Claudius.
Told about the visitor, Prewitt could not indentify him but warned Alex that Claudius had many enemies and had made more by supporting a dhampir. The Assembly itself would stand with her, he promised, but not all vampires might. An unknown source was a threat, and he told her to regard any communication from that man, if it came again, as the same. Until they knew who he was, Alex could not afford to give his words any weight.
One evening, Stacy caught Alex sneaking out. After she demanded an explanation and Alex found she couldn't lie her way out of it, she texted Prewitt, who was waiting for her, to come in. They explained everything to Stacy and offered proof. After recovering from the shock, Stacy supported her daughter but refused to allow her to go to Hungary to find Báthory Castle. Once Alex had graduated, Stacy promised, she would reconsider the issue.
Alex found Matthias after searching all of his hiding places. The vicious fight left them both with serious injuries which, for most of the battle, healed quickly. Alex, at last, prevailed. She graduated the next afternoon, looking no worse for the wear. After approval from Prewitt, both of them agreeing she had done more than enough for the moment, she accepted an invitation to a party and finally let herself just have fun.
Claudius came to Alex again that night. He appluaded her work against Matthias and her research about the Báthory line. He was convinced by Alex to tell her more about his wife, whom he described as looking very similar to her. She had been killed by his enemies, he said, but had died with a smile in his arms after promising she would find a way back to him, even if it took a century or more.
The next morning, Prewitt surprised Alex with plane tickets and hotel reservations for Hungary. Stacy reluctantly allowed Alex to go, seeing how eager she was to go, listening to Alex's reasonable arguments, and remembering she'd promised to reconsider after graduation.
When Alex found Castle Báthory, Prewitt had to remain at the threshold and wished her well. Alex cut her palm just as the sun set, and her blood on the door made it open. She went in, and it shut behind her. She had to navigate her way through a maze of illusions designed to test her determination and, most importantly, her courage. At last, she spoke to Erzsébet Báthory. The countess told Alex she was not of the Báthory line but commended her for her courage. She granted Alex the ability to restart the Báthory line and pass on their power, illusions. Báthory also gifted Alex with a simple, very long dark chain necklace.
Claudius appeared again that night. He warned Alex that the Assembly would call on her soon, and he would serve as her patron. He also told her he was sending a man named Victor Fellman to be turned and given the power of the Báthory line, as, since she was not of it herself but was surely of another lost line, she could not stand herself as the new head of the Báthory line.
Victor arrived, and Alex (guided by Prewitt's instructions) changed him into a vampire. Prewitt called Victor a vassal of Alex's now, and her his sire. As she slept afterward, the strange old man appeared again He scolded her for her actions, calling her foolish and impulsive.
With Victor, Alex and Prewitt returned to the US, finding the legal process of immigration, for Victor, somewhat sped by Claudius's many contacts and old money. Stacy, once the situation was explained to her, agreed to let Victor stay with them and to allow Alex to put off college for a few years to deal with vampires and revive the lost lines, as it was, she could understand, important work.
Personality: For all her supernatural powers, Alex is also a teenage girl.
She is usually incredibly friendly and will go out of her way to talk someone and try to make a new friend. Shyness and hesitation don't bother her, but rudeness quickly puts her off dealing with someone again. At night, when her vamypric influence is awake, she can be a little more distant, usually because she worries about blood lust being provoked if someone is injured or makes her angry, but she's rarely outright rude. In the face of insults, however, she lashes out in reply. By day, it's just verbally, assuming a condescending attitude that is rarely genuine. At night, it can be very physical, depending on the degree of insult.
Alex rushes into things. She has very little self-moderation, and she commits to major projects without hardly any thought. This has only gotten worse since becoming an awakened dhampir, as she requires only two to four hours of sleep a day. This leaves her with lots of time she can devote to helping anyone she has even a luke warm opinion about with anything. She has the tendency to overcommit, which usually leads to promising to be in two places at once, leaving disappointments. Alex tries not to get herself into that bind because she believes in doing something once she's promised to, and she will try everything she can to keep all her obligations. Once she has set herself on important tasks (such as the awakening of the lost lines) she feels determined to succeed at any cost.
Alex tends to trust people implicitly, especially those in authority. This opens her up to both good and bad influences, so long as she gets any modicum of respect from the authority figure first. She believes what she's told and acts on it, holding the opinion close. Her mind can be changed if her opinion is proven false by actions, and she will guard her new opinion just as closely.
Alex expects people to be honest with her and to offer forgiveness where she feels it has been earned. In her eyes, anything more than a minor deception is nearly unforgivable. It takes her a long time and a lot of work emotionally and mentally to accept any exceptions that might need to be made. Once certain boundaries have been crossed, she does not forgive easily, and she has the tendency to lie about what she is, mostly out of fear she won't be believed. She rarely sees the disconnect between expecting everyone to be honest with her and not being honest with them herself.
Alex never really had a boyfriend in her early teenage years. The first part of that time was spent in the psychiatric care center, which didn't allow her dating time, and the second was devoted to getting her life back on track. Now that she's become somewhat comfortable with her duties and her vampyric self, she's teaching herself to flirt and giving more sway to teenage crushes. She's sure she's not looking for anything serious, but she's decided she's definitely open to trying to date.
Alex is usually conflicted about her vampyric side. She enjoys the power it gives and that it makes her special. She also likes the enhanced senses and having a purpose in her life. The perks of hardly needing to sleep and staying thin are also high on her list, even though she doesn't admit to the latter. However, the darker parts scare her. She worries about her cravings for blood, and she hesitates over Prewitt's suggestion of hunting animals and bottling the blood to help sate the urges a little. As she will always hunger for human blood, it will only help some, but that, he's tried to tell her, is better than nothing. She also worries about hurting someone human who gets dragged into the conflicts of vampires by her strength or by killing someone they love, as her job entails disposing of the vampires that disobey the Assembly. Usually these are high crimes, like turning someone without Assembly approval or massacaring humans, but Alex knows that doesn't always make a difference to someone who cares about the vampire she went after.
Alex is also extremely conflicted about the psychiatric care she received when young. She knows the doctors wanted to help her and couldn't have known vampires were real. She also understands that her mother had no reason to believe her then and wanted what was best for her. She feels like the center gave her tools to help her adjust to the changes in her life, and she believes firmly in the importance of a good therapist. However, she also feels a lot of anger over having been sent there for a "psychotic break" when she wasn't delusional. She had, in fact, seen what she thought she saw. The men who killed her father were vampires. This invalidates the reason she was supposed to be getting help, leaving her angry at the people who she knows were trying to do the right thing and the situation no one could have expected.
Alex is a teenager. She can be flirty and friendly or distant, insecure or confident, determined or unreliable. It all depends on who she deals with when and what else is going on around her. She tries her best, though, and seeks approval from those she holds in high regard.
Strengths:
Physical:
After the sun sets, Alex has supernatural powers associated with vampires. She is very strong, heals wounds almost instantly, and has keen senses. Her vison, sense of smell, and hearing all improve dramatically.
Being only half vampire, Alex does not suffer from a weakness to silver. If a vampire in her world is cut with a weapon of silver or edged in silver, the wound heals only at the rate of a normal human. Alex does not have this impediment, and an injury from silver will heal with supernatural speed like any other.
Alex is skilled at archery. She picked it up because her father once mentioned her great-grandmother had been fond of the sport, and she found a natural inclination for it. She was the captain of her school's team, and she uses her arrows to hunt vampires, as they serve as projectile stakes.
At night, Alex shows up on any video or photograph taken then as something flickering and half-opage, due to the half-vampire blood in her.
Mental:
Alex is reasonably intelligent. She is not a genuis, but she made good grades while in school. She stores information well but not flawlessly.
Alex can communicate through dreams. She cannot control people, influence their thoughts, or harm them. Sight, sound, and touch are possible, but it does not carry over into the physical world.
When Alex drinks someone's blood and has them drink hers, she turns them into a full vampire, and they become her vassal. Alex's will then overrules the will of her vassal. It does not alter their core personality, but it influences their goals. They want what she wants, though their methods for obtaining it may vary. (NOTE: Alex is extremely conservatie about turning someone, so this would only be used with much plotting and discussion. The death of the one turned would reverse the process entirely.)
Emotional:
Alex is compassionate. She cares deeply about other people, especially those in need. When she takes the time to consider a course of action, she will try to pick the one that helps the most people who she feels deserve the help.
Alex is optimistic. She does not expect things to be easy, but she does believe hard work, focus, and determination will see her through just about anything. She bounces back from injury and personal tragedy with spirit. Part of this comes from the feeling that "a moving target's hard to hit." If she keeps going, it's that much more difficult to stop her, in her mind.
Alex is friendly. Even if she's not feeling sociable, Alex always tries to be nice, especially to strangers. She likes to learna bout other people and is usually up for a party or outing. She can be more stand-offish at night, when her vampyric side comes out, but she is usually not rude.
Weaknesses:
Physical:
While the sun is up, Alex is completely human. Her senses are average, her strength limited, and she has only the basic human healing speed. She can be injured or killed the same as any human during the hours between sunrise and sunset, regardless of cloud coverage or being inside.
At night, Alex is susceptible to a range of vampyric weakness. Death can be achieved by piercing the heart for an our or removing the head from the bodyand keeping it at least an inch away for an hour. Crosses, garlic, wards, and other such repellents are effective based on the willpower of the user relative to Alex and the user's faith in their rool. Alex can only cross the threshold of a claimed, private domain by invitation unless the power of her will trumps that of the owner.
Alex has had her vampire powers for three months. She has not had time to develop the centuries old will most vampires have. Hers is naturally strong, but only strong in comparison to someone roughly her own age. She has extremely basic combat skills aside from her archery.
Mental:
Alex is not a critical thinker. She takes people and situations at face value until given a strong incentive to look beyond that. She can usually see the direct consequences of her actions, but she rarely considers the peripheral.
Alex's inexperience results in a disconnect between her instincts and her actions. The feral vampire nature may sense dance in a situation or person, but the human intellect rarely connects the feeling to the meaning until it's too late for any sort of preventative measure to be taken.
Alex does not need blood, but she craves it. Usually, the feeling is weak, but the first week of the month usually causes it to grow more persistent. It is difficult for her, after dark, to be around the injured, as fresh blood makes the cravings that much worse. What works against her more is that she rarely gives in and drinks blood, which means she regards it as a forbidden fruit. This often only makes it more tempting and more dangerous when she wavers and lets herself stray from her path of denial.
Because Alex is only half vampire, she has no access to the specialized powers of the nobles houses. She can imbue a vassal with the power to create the Báthory illusions, but she cannot use that power herself.
Emotional:
Alex is nineteen. She is not wholly adult yet in body or mind. She reacts to things like a teenager. Sometimes she manages the mature reaction, other times she can be rather childish, especially about things that are important but not vital to the fate of the world or the order of vampires she serves.
Alex is not naturally given to deliberation. If she thinks something is a good idea, she will will try it almost immediately. Such moments of (not) brilliance include taking on a vampire at night before awakened to her powers, rushing into Castle Báthory despite warning she would have to face challenges, and turning Victor solely because Claudius told her to.
Alex trusts Prewitt and Claudius almost unconditionally. She obeys authority figures and takes people at face value. Good first impressions form deep trusts; bad first impressions form deep mistrusts. Her opinions can be altered by strong actions to the contrary, and she will hold as fiercly to the new beliefs as she did to the old. Being lied to is one thing that wounds her deeply, and she doesn't forgive anything more than minor deception easily, if at all.
Alex doubts herself often. She will hold a course once she starts on it, but she worries frequently about her ability to complete the tasks required of her. She worries she is not smart enough, strong enough, or brave enough or is concerned she has moral failings regarding giving in to the vampyric parts of her nature, such as bloodlust.
Alex can be hypocritical. She holds people to high standards regarding honesty, forgiveness, and acceptance. However, especially in the latter areas, she often doesn't measure up to her own ideals.
Samples
First Person:
IC Q&A, please!
Third Person:
Alex squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to breathe. The collapsed overhand made a good hiding place, and the three Third Party cultists following her passed by. Her heart raced as she waited. Another hunting party might be anywhere. After about half a minute, she slowly rolled to one side, freeing the bow trapped under her. Alex pushed herself up onto one knee and pulled an arrow from her quiver and drew it back in preparation. The sun was nearly set; it would only take a few more minutes. If she could survive that long, she would be safe until dawn.
For most of the day, she'd worked at the vamp. There were errands to be run, supplies to be divided, meals to help with, and other such distractions. Dusk brough talk of checking for abandoned Third Party camps and anything that might have been left. Eager to be away from the injured once twilight settled, Alex had volunteered. For the last hour, though, she'd been keeping just out of reach of a dogged trio who had seen her, caught her scent, or some other manner of tracking her. Cutting one down would have revealed her position, and she hadn't felt confident about then facing two. Now, at least, as long as the sun shone.
At long last, the sun sank beneath the horizon.
Alex closed her eyes. She let the feeling sweep through her, abandoning herself to the sensations flooding her mind. She heard everything; her heartbeat slowed to a near stop, an owl hooted far away, three pairs of feet carefully crossed over stone, and a fire crackled beyond the fallen buildings. She smelled the blood of the fallen, and her nostrils flared when the wind changed, letting her catch he scent of her former persuants. Alex opened her eyes. Her sight was twice as good as it would be on a clear, sunny day. She saw clearer and further, and her gaze focused on the hunting party.
She drew back the arrow again. She let it fly and instantly ran to follow it. One member of the party fell, an arrow all the way through his heart; the second hit the ground only a short time later, pinned by Alex. Her thin hand squeezed his throat until the windpipe snapped. Alex knelt over her kill, staring at the blood her nails had drawn. The last member of the hunting party was fleeting; she knew she should let him go. Alex raised her lightly bloodied hand and gave in. She licked one finger.
As the taste of blood exploded in her mouth, Alex growled and gave chase.
Clarifications as requested by mods:
Sorry. Totally forgot to actually note the time period. Alex is 18 in the summer of 2011, so 2012 or so when she's pulled into Luceti.
There are nine vampire houses. They are known for the regions they are made up of residents from. North America, South America, Northern Africa, Southern Africa, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Australia, Northern Asia, and Southern Asia are all represented. Each house has one head, most often elected, and they meet in the Assembly as a kind of United Nations. Consensus is difficult, as there are varying cultural views, so things don't generally happen on a global scale. Within each house are numerous clans who choose their leaders their own ways. The clans are made up of a group of families. Families consist of a sire and their vassals. Families can range from just a few members to many, as the vassals of vassals are considered part of the family as well. These units often look a lot like monarchies, as the will of the sire directs that of the vassals. In clans, however, since sires must come together, there is usually more discussion, though it can still be rather dogmatic. Usually, by the combining of clans into houses, the approach resembles the democratic. Families and particularly clans tend to take care of justice in their local areas, as waiting for the Assembly to act can take a long time, if it ever does anything.
A full vampire is about four times as strong as a human of their body's age and physical type. Being half-blooded, Alex is about twice as strong as a moderately fit nineteen-year-old girl would normally be. She can cut through bone with a hard stroke without much effort and stab or shoot and arrow through the same. She could easily move a solid table of moderate weight but would struggle with, say, a full sized couch. Her speed, likewise, is doubled, as is her stamina. However, all increases are in effect only during non-daylight hours.
Alex's mental powers are pretty firmly nullified by Luceti's power cap. Even at 100%, the most they tend to allow on a day to day basis is that, after the sun goes down, people are less inclined to question her little lies or willing to agree to something she wants that isn't an imposition to them. It's a very subtle influence that, even at 100%, will be entirely opt-in with a permissions post in the works for if she's accepted into Luceti. The only exception to the "almost non-existent" powers would be if she made a vassal, where her desires would influence their actions. It is not direct control, more like subliminal messaging pushing them toward a certain end, though it can be taken to too little or too great an extent depending on the vassal's personality. The likelihood of her ever making a vassal is extremely low, and I am willing to entirely nix that ability upon bringing her to Luceti, if it would be preferable.
Name:
Lynn
Livejournal/Dreamwidth Username:
sepiaepiphany [DW]
E-mail:
dreamsofharlequin@gmail.com.
AIM/MSN:
celia0sword [AIM]
Current Characters at Luceti:
Clove - shenevermisses
Faith - charitylovehopefaith
Character
Name:
Alexandra "Alex" Marie Tate
Gender:
Female
Age:
19
Wing Color:
Grey, speckled black and white
Physical Appearance:
Alex stands 5'5". She is underweight, though not so much as to be only skin and bones. Her brown hair is never longer than her shoulder blades or shorter than her shoulders. She has green eyes. On her back, she hsa a tattoo that reads "Semper Fidelis".
History:
Alex was raised by Demetri and Stacy Tate. Demetri was a member of the United States Marines, and his family traveled with him, so Alex grew up on military bases and temporary housing. Her father retired just before her thirteenth birthday, and the Tate family moved to the suburban Midwest.
Two weeks before Christmas, Alex and her father were out shopping for a present for Stacy. On their way walking home, three men appeared, as if from nowhere. All three were distinct: one had a burn up his neck, one was very tall, and one had extremely pale eyes. The man with pale eyes grabbed Alex, showed her long, sharp fangs, and threw her aside. Alex remembers nothing from that moment until twelve hours later.
Alex woke up in the hospital. She was told her father was killed, and the hospital kept physicians and psychiatrists on hand for her. She did her best to help the police, remaining reasonably calm and describing the attackers, but her constant assertion that one of the men, at least, was a vampire worried almost everyone. One night, she woke up screaming about the man with the burn standing over her, refusing to relent even after seeing the surveillance footage of the hallway, which showed it being completely empty. Even after being sedated and woken, she persisted, and several doctors felt it was indicative of deeper trauma than anticipated.
On her mother's suggestion, she spent eighteen months in a psychiatric care center for adolescents. It was believed that she'd had a psychotic break due to her trauma. Alex did what the doctors told her, including therapy and medication. As soon as it was allowed, Stacy checked her out for evenings and weekends, always asking about her progress and encouraging her. Alex was released two days before she turned fifteen.
Stacy, left an exceptional amount of money by her husband, took up her aunt's offer to move into her house on the east coast, as Gladys was moving to a retirement community for active seniors. Alex was as eager for a fresh start as her mother, so she agreed quickly. The pair moved to Middletown, Delaware. Stacy took a part-time job, and Alex finally settled into a school permanently and started to make friends.
In Alex's senior year, after the winter break, her English teacher was replaced by a long-term substitute, Steven Prewitt. He had the class read Dracula just as girls began to turn up dead in the area. They were all fifteen to eighteen with brown hair and light eyes. The girls, six in total, were all stabbed multiple times and their throats cut, drained of all blood. Alex began to (due to timing, assignments, and what seems like advances on her) suspect Prewitt.
One night, after a text from her best friend Lucy on a strange phone, Alex went out to retrieve her from a party where she'd been drinking and didn't feel safe driving or staying there the night. Alex, without a car that night, went out on foot, planning to drive Lucy's car back. The text proved to be a fake, sent by the serial killer, who had decided to make Alex his next victim. The man attacked, and Alex recognized the burn on his neck, marking him as one of the men who had killed her father. He also, when he had Alex down, revealed himself as a vampire. Before he could bite Alex's neck, Prewitt pulled him off. Prewitt showed his own fangs and told the man, whom he addressed as Joshua, that Alex was under the protection of Claudius Fitzregina, the head of a noble house. That was sufficient to scare Joshua off temporarily. Prewitt gave Alex an amulet with Claudius's seal, assuring her that it would keep her safe.
Alex spoke to Prewitt the next day. He taught her about the strengths and weaknesses of vampires. They could be killed by piercing the heart for over an hour or separating the head from the body for the same amount of time. In daylight, they were as mortal as anyone, stripped of their powers until the sun went down. He also explained the politics of their world. An Assembly made laws and kept order, but some rogue vampires always defied them. Prewitt told Alex he'd known her father and revealed that Demitri had also been a vampire. Because of her blood, Alex was ideally suited, Prewitt said, to work for the Assembly, enforce their laws, and hunt vampires who broke them, including the men who killed her father. Alex agreed to the task, mostly to get justice for her father.
Alex found Joshua before he came after her again. Joshua revealed that he worked for a man named Matthias, but he did not know why Matthias had ordered Alex dead. It was her he had been looking for, but he'd had so general a description that he had been killing any girl who matched it. Alex fought Joshua and barely came out of it alive, though she did manage to kill him. Alex blamed her injuries on a hit-and-run car accident.
Prewitt taught Alex about the five lost noble lines: Báthory, Blagojević, Borgia, Rasputin, and Tepes. The Tepes line, he told her, could not be revived, being the blood of Dracula. Prewitt explained that there was magic guarding the castles in which the echoes (ghosts of the heads of those houses who could not influence the world beyond the thresholds of their once-residences) of the lines could be found. Each echo would ask her to prove something about herself, some quality they thought made someone worthy. To even cross the threshold, both mortal and vampire blood must be offered, making a dhampir (a half-vampire) perfect for the task. If Alex could prove herself to the echoes, they would grant her their house's power, previously lost to the vampires, and allow her to restart their lines. Prewitt confided in Alex that her father had been the last descendant of one of the lost lines, though he had not been able to find out for certain which it was. Alex agreed to the task and started with Báthory, believing it sounded most like the few parts of her father's history she knew, the most likely to be the house she belonged to.
Though it took her a few weeks, Alex finally tracked down Matthias. Alex learned that he was the pale-eyed man who had led the attack on her father. He beat her easily, nearly killing her. She survived only because Prewitt intervened.
Her defeat prompted Prewitt to explain he would awaken the power in Alex's vampire blood, making her a true dhampir. Alex agreed, and she allowed herself to be hypnotized. She dreamed of blood and castles and battles and heard her father and other men speaking. When she woke, Prewitt warned her about coming nightmares, blood lust, severe weight loss, and sensory overload. The symptoms (caused by her body adjusting to the new vampyric influence at night) lasted ten days, three longer than Prewitt had expected them to and warned her for.
Fully awakened to her dhampir nature, Alex sought out the third man from her past, Connor. He was also an agent of Matthias. With her sharpened senses, rapid healing, and improved strength, she killed Connor with ease. She learned from him a few of Matthias's preferred hideouts and swore herself to finding him.
A few days after the death of Connor, Claudius appeared to Alex in a dream, assuring her that he and Prewitt would always protect her. He told her he had sent Prewitt to find her, to make sure she was safe from the attack he knew Matthias had planned for her. He confessed to feeling a deep pull to Alex and being reminded of his lost love, his wife who had died long ago. He encouraged her to seek out the lost lines and start them anew. The next day, when she came to him with questions, Prewitt explained the power of vampires to communicate through dreams with anyone, mortal or vampire. Alex promised Prewitt she'd practice her own and hone the ability. Two nights after that, an aged man appeared in Alex's dream. He seemed to threaten her if she continued associating with Claudius.
Told about the visitor, Prewitt could not indentify him but warned Alex that Claudius had many enemies and had made more by supporting a dhampir. The Assembly itself would stand with her, he promised, but not all vampires might. An unknown source was a threat, and he told her to regard any communication from that man, if it came again, as the same. Until they knew who he was, Alex could not afford to give his words any weight.
One evening, Stacy caught Alex sneaking out. After she demanded an explanation and Alex found she couldn't lie her way out of it, she texted Prewitt, who was waiting for her, to come in. They explained everything to Stacy and offered proof. After recovering from the shock, Stacy supported her daughter but refused to allow her to go to Hungary to find Báthory Castle. Once Alex had graduated, Stacy promised, she would reconsider the issue.
Alex found Matthias after searching all of his hiding places. The vicious fight left them both with serious injuries which, for most of the battle, healed quickly. Alex, at last, prevailed. She graduated the next afternoon, looking no worse for the wear. After approval from Prewitt, both of them agreeing she had done more than enough for the moment, she accepted an invitation to a party and finally let herself just have fun.
Claudius came to Alex again that night. He appluaded her work against Matthias and her research about the Báthory line. He was convinced by Alex to tell her more about his wife, whom he described as looking very similar to her. She had been killed by his enemies, he said, but had died with a smile in his arms after promising she would find a way back to him, even if it took a century or more.
The next morning, Prewitt surprised Alex with plane tickets and hotel reservations for Hungary. Stacy reluctantly allowed Alex to go, seeing how eager she was to go, listening to Alex's reasonable arguments, and remembering she'd promised to reconsider after graduation.
When Alex found Castle Báthory, Prewitt had to remain at the threshold and wished her well. Alex cut her palm just as the sun set, and her blood on the door made it open. She went in, and it shut behind her. She had to navigate her way through a maze of illusions designed to test her determination and, most importantly, her courage. At last, she spoke to Erzsébet Báthory. The countess told Alex she was not of the Báthory line but commended her for her courage. She granted Alex the ability to restart the Báthory line and pass on their power, illusions. Báthory also gifted Alex with a simple, very long dark chain necklace.
Claudius appeared again that night. He warned Alex that the Assembly would call on her soon, and he would serve as her patron. He also told her he was sending a man named Victor Fellman to be turned and given the power of the Báthory line, as, since she was not of it herself but was surely of another lost line, she could not stand herself as the new head of the Báthory line.
Victor arrived, and Alex (guided by Prewitt's instructions) changed him into a vampire. Prewitt called Victor a vassal of Alex's now, and her his sire. As she slept afterward, the strange old man appeared again He scolded her for her actions, calling her foolish and impulsive.
With Victor, Alex and Prewitt returned to the US, finding the legal process of immigration, for Victor, somewhat sped by Claudius's many contacts and old money. Stacy, once the situation was explained to her, agreed to let Victor stay with them and to allow Alex to put off college for a few years to deal with vampires and revive the lost lines, as it was, she could understand, important work.
Personality: For all her supernatural powers, Alex is also a teenage girl.
She is usually incredibly friendly and will go out of her way to talk someone and try to make a new friend. Shyness and hesitation don't bother her, but rudeness quickly puts her off dealing with someone again. At night, when her vamypric influence is awake, she can be a little more distant, usually because she worries about blood lust being provoked if someone is injured or makes her angry, but she's rarely outright rude. In the face of insults, however, she lashes out in reply. By day, it's just verbally, assuming a condescending attitude that is rarely genuine. At night, it can be very physical, depending on the degree of insult.
Alex rushes into things. She has very little self-moderation, and she commits to major projects without hardly any thought. This has only gotten worse since becoming an awakened dhampir, as she requires only two to four hours of sleep a day. This leaves her with lots of time she can devote to helping anyone she has even a luke warm opinion about with anything. She has the tendency to overcommit, which usually leads to promising to be in two places at once, leaving disappointments. Alex tries not to get herself into that bind because she believes in doing something once she's promised to, and she will try everything she can to keep all her obligations. Once she has set herself on important tasks (such as the awakening of the lost lines) she feels determined to succeed at any cost.
Alex tends to trust people implicitly, especially those in authority. This opens her up to both good and bad influences, so long as she gets any modicum of respect from the authority figure first. She believes what she's told and acts on it, holding the opinion close. Her mind can be changed if her opinion is proven false by actions, and she will guard her new opinion just as closely.
Alex expects people to be honest with her and to offer forgiveness where she feels it has been earned. In her eyes, anything more than a minor deception is nearly unforgivable. It takes her a long time and a lot of work emotionally and mentally to accept any exceptions that might need to be made. Once certain boundaries have been crossed, she does not forgive easily, and she has the tendency to lie about what she is, mostly out of fear she won't be believed. She rarely sees the disconnect between expecting everyone to be honest with her and not being honest with them herself.
Alex never really had a boyfriend in her early teenage years. The first part of that time was spent in the psychiatric care center, which didn't allow her dating time, and the second was devoted to getting her life back on track. Now that she's become somewhat comfortable with her duties and her vampyric self, she's teaching herself to flirt and giving more sway to teenage crushes. She's sure she's not looking for anything serious, but she's decided she's definitely open to trying to date.
Alex is usually conflicted about her vampyric side. She enjoys the power it gives and that it makes her special. She also likes the enhanced senses and having a purpose in her life. The perks of hardly needing to sleep and staying thin are also high on her list, even though she doesn't admit to the latter. However, the darker parts scare her. She worries about her cravings for blood, and she hesitates over Prewitt's suggestion of hunting animals and bottling the blood to help sate the urges a little. As she will always hunger for human blood, it will only help some, but that, he's tried to tell her, is better than nothing. She also worries about hurting someone human who gets dragged into the conflicts of vampires by her strength or by killing someone they love, as her job entails disposing of the vampires that disobey the Assembly. Usually these are high crimes, like turning someone without Assembly approval or massacaring humans, but Alex knows that doesn't always make a difference to someone who cares about the vampire she went after.
Alex is also extremely conflicted about the psychiatric care she received when young. She knows the doctors wanted to help her and couldn't have known vampires were real. She also understands that her mother had no reason to believe her then and wanted what was best for her. She feels like the center gave her tools to help her adjust to the changes in her life, and she believes firmly in the importance of a good therapist. However, she also feels a lot of anger over having been sent there for a "psychotic break" when she wasn't delusional. She had, in fact, seen what she thought she saw. The men who killed her father were vampires. This invalidates the reason she was supposed to be getting help, leaving her angry at the people who she knows were trying to do the right thing and the situation no one could have expected.
Alex is a teenager. She can be flirty and friendly or distant, insecure or confident, determined or unreliable. It all depends on who she deals with when and what else is going on around her. She tries her best, though, and seeks approval from those she holds in high regard.
Strengths:
Physical:
After the sun sets, Alex has supernatural powers associated with vampires. She is very strong, heals wounds almost instantly, and has keen senses. Her vison, sense of smell, and hearing all improve dramatically.
Being only half vampire, Alex does not suffer from a weakness to silver. If a vampire in her world is cut with a weapon of silver or edged in silver, the wound heals only at the rate of a normal human. Alex does not have this impediment, and an injury from silver will heal with supernatural speed like any other.
Alex is skilled at archery. She picked it up because her father once mentioned her great-grandmother had been fond of the sport, and she found a natural inclination for it. She was the captain of her school's team, and she uses her arrows to hunt vampires, as they serve as projectile stakes.
At night, Alex shows up on any video or photograph taken then as something flickering and half-opage, due to the half-vampire blood in her.
Mental:
Alex is reasonably intelligent. She is not a genuis, but she made good grades while in school. She stores information well but not flawlessly.
Alex can communicate through dreams. She cannot control people, influence their thoughts, or harm them. Sight, sound, and touch are possible, but it does not carry over into the physical world.
When Alex drinks someone's blood and has them drink hers, she turns them into a full vampire, and they become her vassal. Alex's will then overrules the will of her vassal. It does not alter their core personality, but it influences their goals. They want what she wants, though their methods for obtaining it may vary. (NOTE: Alex is extremely conservatie about turning someone, so this would only be used with much plotting and discussion. The death of the one turned would reverse the process entirely.)
Emotional:
Alex is compassionate. She cares deeply about other people, especially those in need. When she takes the time to consider a course of action, she will try to pick the one that helps the most people who she feels deserve the help.
Alex is optimistic. She does not expect things to be easy, but she does believe hard work, focus, and determination will see her through just about anything. She bounces back from injury and personal tragedy with spirit. Part of this comes from the feeling that "a moving target's hard to hit." If she keeps going, it's that much more difficult to stop her, in her mind.
Alex is friendly. Even if she's not feeling sociable, Alex always tries to be nice, especially to strangers. She likes to learna bout other people and is usually up for a party or outing. She can be more stand-offish at night, when her vampyric side comes out, but she is usually not rude.
Weaknesses:
Physical:
While the sun is up, Alex is completely human. Her senses are average, her strength limited, and she has only the basic human healing speed. She can be injured or killed the same as any human during the hours between sunrise and sunset, regardless of cloud coverage or being inside.
At night, Alex is susceptible to a range of vampyric weakness. Death can be achieved by piercing the heart for an our or removing the head from the bodyand keeping it at least an inch away for an hour. Crosses, garlic, wards, and other such repellents are effective based on the willpower of the user relative to Alex and the user's faith in their rool. Alex can only cross the threshold of a claimed, private domain by invitation unless the power of her will trumps that of the owner.
Alex has had her vampire powers for three months. She has not had time to develop the centuries old will most vampires have. Hers is naturally strong, but only strong in comparison to someone roughly her own age. She has extremely basic combat skills aside from her archery.
Mental:
Alex is not a critical thinker. She takes people and situations at face value until given a strong incentive to look beyond that. She can usually see the direct consequences of her actions, but she rarely considers the peripheral.
Alex's inexperience results in a disconnect between her instincts and her actions. The feral vampire nature may sense dance in a situation or person, but the human intellect rarely connects the feeling to the meaning until it's too late for any sort of preventative measure to be taken.
Alex does not need blood, but she craves it. Usually, the feeling is weak, but the first week of the month usually causes it to grow more persistent. It is difficult for her, after dark, to be around the injured, as fresh blood makes the cravings that much worse. What works against her more is that she rarely gives in and drinks blood, which means she regards it as a forbidden fruit. This often only makes it more tempting and more dangerous when she wavers and lets herself stray from her path of denial.
Because Alex is only half vampire, she has no access to the specialized powers of the nobles houses. She can imbue a vassal with the power to create the Báthory illusions, but she cannot use that power herself.
Emotional:
Alex is nineteen. She is not wholly adult yet in body or mind. She reacts to things like a teenager. Sometimes she manages the mature reaction, other times she can be rather childish, especially about things that are important but not vital to the fate of the world or the order of vampires she serves.
Alex is not naturally given to deliberation. If she thinks something is a good idea, she will will try it almost immediately. Such moments of (not) brilliance include taking on a vampire at night before awakened to her powers, rushing into Castle Báthory despite warning she would have to face challenges, and turning Victor solely because Claudius told her to.
Alex trusts Prewitt and Claudius almost unconditionally. She obeys authority figures and takes people at face value. Good first impressions form deep trusts; bad first impressions form deep mistrusts. Her opinions can be altered by strong actions to the contrary, and she will hold as fiercly to the new beliefs as she did to the old. Being lied to is one thing that wounds her deeply, and she doesn't forgive anything more than minor deception easily, if at all.
Alex doubts herself often. She will hold a course once she starts on it, but she worries frequently about her ability to complete the tasks required of her. She worries she is not smart enough, strong enough, or brave enough or is concerned she has moral failings regarding giving in to the vampyric parts of her nature, such as bloodlust.
Alex can be hypocritical. She holds people to high standards regarding honesty, forgiveness, and acceptance. However, especially in the latter areas, she often doesn't measure up to her own ideals.
Samples
First Person:
IC Q&A, please!
Third Person:
Alex squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to breathe. The collapsed overhand made a good hiding place, and the three Third Party cultists following her passed by. Her heart raced as she waited. Another hunting party might be anywhere. After about half a minute, she slowly rolled to one side, freeing the bow trapped under her. Alex pushed herself up onto one knee and pulled an arrow from her quiver and drew it back in preparation. The sun was nearly set; it would only take a few more minutes. If she could survive that long, she would be safe until dawn.
For most of the day, she'd worked at the vamp. There were errands to be run, supplies to be divided, meals to help with, and other such distractions. Dusk brough talk of checking for abandoned Third Party camps and anything that might have been left. Eager to be away from the injured once twilight settled, Alex had volunteered. For the last hour, though, she'd been keeping just out of reach of a dogged trio who had seen her, caught her scent, or some other manner of tracking her. Cutting one down would have revealed her position, and she hadn't felt confident about then facing two. Now, at least, as long as the sun shone.
At long last, the sun sank beneath the horizon.
Alex closed her eyes. She let the feeling sweep through her, abandoning herself to the sensations flooding her mind. She heard everything; her heartbeat slowed to a near stop, an owl hooted far away, three pairs of feet carefully crossed over stone, and a fire crackled beyond the fallen buildings. She smelled the blood of the fallen, and her nostrils flared when the wind changed, letting her catch he scent of her former persuants. Alex opened her eyes. Her sight was twice as good as it would be on a clear, sunny day. She saw clearer and further, and her gaze focused on the hunting party.
She drew back the arrow again. She let it fly and instantly ran to follow it. One member of the party fell, an arrow all the way through his heart; the second hit the ground only a short time later, pinned by Alex. Her thin hand squeezed his throat until the windpipe snapped. Alex knelt over her kill, staring at the blood her nails had drawn. The last member of the hunting party was fleeting; she knew she should let him go. Alex raised her lightly bloodied hand and gave in. She licked one finger.
As the taste of blood exploded in her mouth, Alex growled and gave chase.
Clarifications as requested by mods:
Sorry. Totally forgot to actually note the time period. Alex is 18 in the summer of 2011, so 2012 or so when she's pulled into Luceti.
There are nine vampire houses. They are known for the regions they are made up of residents from. North America, South America, Northern Africa, Southern Africa, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Australia, Northern Asia, and Southern Asia are all represented. Each house has one head, most often elected, and they meet in the Assembly as a kind of United Nations. Consensus is difficult, as there are varying cultural views, so things don't generally happen on a global scale. Within each house are numerous clans who choose their leaders their own ways. The clans are made up of a group of families. Families consist of a sire and their vassals. Families can range from just a few members to many, as the vassals of vassals are considered part of the family as well. These units often look a lot like monarchies, as the will of the sire directs that of the vassals. In clans, however, since sires must come together, there is usually more discussion, though it can still be rather dogmatic. Usually, by the combining of clans into houses, the approach resembles the democratic. Families and particularly clans tend to take care of justice in their local areas, as waiting for the Assembly to act can take a long time, if it ever does anything.
A full vampire is about four times as strong as a human of their body's age and physical type. Being half-blooded, Alex is about twice as strong as a moderately fit nineteen-year-old girl would normally be. She can cut through bone with a hard stroke without much effort and stab or shoot and arrow through the same. She could easily move a solid table of moderate weight but would struggle with, say, a full sized couch. Her speed, likewise, is doubled, as is her stamina. However, all increases are in effect only during non-daylight hours.
Alex's mental powers are pretty firmly nullified by Luceti's power cap. Even at 100%, the most they tend to allow on a day to day basis is that, after the sun goes down, people are less inclined to question her little lies or willing to agree to something she wants that isn't an imposition to them. It's a very subtle influence that, even at 100%, will be entirely opt-in with a permissions post in the works for if she's accepted into Luceti. The only exception to the "almost non-existent" powers would be if she made a vassal, where her desires would influence their actions. It is not direct control, more like subliminal messaging pushing them toward a certain end, though it can be taken to too little or too great an extent depending on the vassal's personality. The likelihood of her ever making a vassal is extremely low, and I am willing to entirely nix that ability upon bringing her to Luceti, if it would be preferable.