Application - [ ooc ]

[oneofthelost]

[Name]: Lynn
[Age]: 25
[Contacts]:
♦ DW: sepiaepiphany
♦ AIM: celia0sword
♦ Plurk: harlequindream
[Timezone]: PST
[Other Characters]:
Kyouya Otori - hostclubshadowking



[Name]:
Alex Tate
[Age]:
18
[Gender]:
Female
[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 has a tattoo that reads "Semper Fi".

[World]:
Alex's world is basically the modern world (2012) with the addition of supernatural creatures, though Alex only has exposure to vampires. The vampires in her world have a particular heirarchy.

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.

[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 eighth 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 on his hand, one was very tall, and one had extremely pale eyes. The man with burned hand grabbed Alex and showed her long, sharp fangs. Alex remembers nothing from that moment until twelve hours later.

Alex was found by the police, hiding in a church, and they took her to the station. She was told her father was killed. 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. After months of enduring Alex's paranoia and sleeplessness due to nightmares, her mother took her to a psychiatrist, who diagnosed her with post-tramatic stress disorder as well as acute psychosis, coupled with delusions, brought on by extreme trauma.

She spent six and a half years at the Van Buren Institute for Adolescents. Alex did what the doctors told her, including therapy and medication, though she still suffered several relapses and backsliding. 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 New Avon, Rhode Island. Stacy became an blogger, 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.

She snuck out late one night to gather evidence about Prewitt, only to be attacked outside his home by another man, a man who had known her father and whom she recognized. Prewitt protected her, revealing both her father's old friend and himself as vampires. He got Alex safely home, leaving her with a necklace to prove the incident happened.

When Alex came to him with questions the next day, Prewitt told her about the vampire world and her place in it as a dhampir -- half-vampire, half-human. He told her about his sire, Claudius, who sent him to protect her. Claudius, he explained, believed her to be the reincarnation of Calista, his dead wife. Prewitt explained that the vampires who killed her father were after Alex herself now, and that was why the girls had been killed: they were trying to find her. He offered to 'awaken' her as a dhampir, but Alex refused.

A few days later, Alex received a text from Maggie, her best friend, claiming she was drunk at a party and needed a ride. Alex went, but found herself attacked by a vampire with very pale eyes. She recognized the man but also knew she couldn't take him on and ran away. She went straight to Prewitt, understanding that she needed to save Maggie, and she had to have his help.

With Prewitt's help, Alex accepted the awakening as a dhampir then went after Maggie.

Alex managed to kill the vampire holding Maggie and get her to safety. Having no other choice, she entrusted her friend with her secret.

The night after she saved Maggie, Alex dreamed of Claudius. He explained the power of dreams for vampires, the way she could communicate with others -- like him -- when she slept.

From there, Prewitt began to train her, make sure she could take on the rest of the vampires who killed her father. He also fed her information on where to find them while being careful to not let her trust the second man who began to visit her in her dreams, threatening her if she worked for Claudius. Claudius assured her he wanted to make sure she was safe, which meant not letting her be influenced by forces he couldn't identify. Alex believed him.

Finally, Alex found and killed the last vampire responsible for her father's death. She found no consolation in it, though, and Prewitt suggested another task to keep her busy: reviving the Lost Lines, vampire bloodlines that were revered but died out. It was the destiny, he told her, Claudius meant for her. Alex agreed, desperate for something else to occupy herself with.

Alex planned on leaving right away, her first task the House of Bathroy. Her mother, however, insisted she finish high school first, so Alex obeyed. After that, she and Prewitt travelled together to Hungary, where they searched for the resting place of the Bathroy line, tracing it back to the castle.

When they arrived, Prewitt sent Alex in, explaining that only a dhampir could enter the threshold and warning her that Bathroy would use illusions to try and stop her. Alex went into the castle.

Alex faced three illusions. First, Bathroy made her think she was still a little girl, being woken by her father and comforted from a nightmare. When she came out of that one, she found herself in a castle courtyard, bodies lying all around her, none of whom she recognized. She walked on from that and found herself back in the Institute, with a doctor telling her she's coming out of a psychotic break. That illusion almost broke her, but the man who came to her in her dreams before appeared again, telling her she knew what was real and to see it.

She woke up back in Bathroy Castle and spoke to Bathroy, who showed her where a vial of blood was hidden.

Alex joined Prewitt in the hotel they had rooms in and met Victor Fellman, a Swiss man sent to her by Claudius to take on the Bathroy line. She turned Victor and then took him back to the US with her, where they began to work on the immigration paperwork for Victor, who Stacy allowed to move in with them.

[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.

[Abilities / Strengths & Weaknesses]:
Strenghts:
Physical:
After the sun sets, Alex has supernatural powers associated with vampires. She is very strong (about twice the strength, speed, and stamina of a moderately fit nineteen-year-old girl), 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 body and 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 tool. At night, Alex cannot swim at all and will drown quickly if thrown into the water. On a ship, she will suffer from horrible psuedo-seasickness for several months at night while her body adapts to the travel, since vampires in her world aren't meant to cross moving water. She will eventually become funtional, but she will not ever be at her best at sea.

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:/i>
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 tryig to break into a home of someone she believes is a serial killer, 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.

[Limited Powers]:
Alex's mental powers (those influenced by willpower) are pretty firmly nullified in this world. 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.

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 the game, if it would be preferable.

[Other Important Facts]:
n/a

[Samples]:
♦ Thread:
Test sail!
♦ Post:
I've seen some weird shit. I mean, like, really weird shit. So, y'know? This? Sure, it's a bigger scale than I'm used to, but it's really not that weird, comparatively.

[She's just talking to herself, really. Sitting in her bunk with her journal open. She sounds... pretty miserable, actually, and she is. Trying very desperately not to throw up. Again.]

I mean... You spend your life thinking things are one way, they turn out to be totally different. Doesn't sound as big as being kidnapped and all. Like this place. But...

It really is. Because this? This is a totally different world, right? Sure, power that brought us here and all that, but it's still a different world. That change? That was my world. And it totally got screwed up.

So... Maybe this place isn't too bad. Something I can get used to, at least.