Post by alia on Dec 29, 2008 14:05:34 GMT -7
The Handler
Name: Alia Augustine Bacheva
Nickname: Ali
Classification: Werewolf/Lycanthrope
Gender: Female
Age & Birthday: 63, May 5th
Appearance:
Alia stands a little over average height for a woman, around 5'8 to 5'9 though her shoes often make her appear an inch taller than that. Her hair is a warm, sunny blond that, unfortunately, doesn't at all mirror her usual somber, or even quiet. mood. Alia's locks often fluctuate between wavy and straight, depending on the weather. Regardless her locks are rarely seen in any complicated hair styles as she lets her hair fall where it may, cascading over her shoulders, framing her face, and trailing down to the small of her back. Alia's skin is often rather fair, since she doesn't seem to tan well. Her eyes are two different colors, one a deep shade of green while the other is more of a blue color. Some say the colors darken depending on her mood, but is also quite possibly just a trick of the light.
Alia has the looks of a mature woman nearing her mid thirties. She is rarely seen smiling or showing any deep emotions but when she does, many are shocked at the sheer warmth that can radiate from her smile. Unfortunately Alia has taken to keeping most of her feelings locked away, forcing many to see only her cold and calculating exterior. Many scars can be seen along her back and arms, many thick and raised, forever a memory of the severe wounds they had once been. But these flaws are usually hidden by clothing.
Attire:
As far as clothing goes, Alia has always been one to keep it simple and professional. Whether she is on or off duty Alia finds comfort in slacks and tailored pant suits that still manage to give her a somewhat feminine appearance. Dresses aren't completely out of the question but if she were to wear one it would almost always be a simple pencil skirt. It is safe to say that Alia has a rather difficult time being anything close to casual.
When on missions Alia often wears khaki slacks that have enough pockets for her to carry a decent amount of equipment that could possibly be needed, especially any amount of fire power or weapons. Beneath her shirt she often wears chest body armor to protect herself. Alia is also currently working on coming up with some type of body gear that she can wear without it ripping away when she shifts into her lupine form so the ordeal doesn't force her to end up naked. So far all attempts have failed.
The Creation
Name: Haven
Power List:
Shape Shifting (wolf)
Rapid Healing
Heightened Senses
Detailed Power:
SHAPESHIFTING (wolf/lupine) Alia is able to shape shift into the form of a werewolf and is able to shift only parts of her body at will as well. Her werewolf form is capable of immense strength and durability, able to lift objects at least ten times her weight. This werewolf form is also rather quick and agile for its hulking size. Alia is able to shift into this form at will but it can also be brought on by great surges of emotion. Now that Alia has had a few decades to come to terms with the beast beneath her skin, she is able to keep her shifting under control with meditation and prayer. But not even Alia can fight the call of the new moon. On new moons Alia has no choice but to change into her werewolf form. As each new moon draws closer she is able to actually feel the desire to shift grow stronger.
-werewolf form
In werewolf form Alia stands at about 6.5 feet when standing on her back haunches. Her fur, like the color of her hair, is golden, darkening as it reaches her stomach. In this form Alia is able to understand basic commands and with a will as strong as hers, she is able to think for herself and act on her own thoughts and not give into all of her bestial urges. In this form speech is practically impossible, except for grunts which, even then, isn't exactly speech.
HEIGHTENED SENSES Alia posses highly acute senses that can be compared to that of a cat or dog. Her sense of smell is sensitive to the point that she is able to be aware of, and track, scents that have been left behind hours prior. Alia is able to see far away objects that a normal human would be unable to rather easily as long as there are no obvious obstacles in the way. Her hearing is so acute that she is able to listen to the heart beat patterns of some individuals and tell if they are attempting to deceive her. She can also use her acute hearing to sense the approach of others.
RAPID HEALING The rapid healing allows for her body to regenerate body tissue, as well as most bodily organs, depending on the damage. Minor flesh woulds can knit themselves back together in a few seconds, where injuries such as wounds that puncture organs can take a few hours of rest or even up to a full day. Her rapid healing will give her rather impressive stamina for an amount of time as well. Also it has allowed Alia to age slowly after reaching maturity.
The Potential
Alignment/Occupation: BPRD
Weapons: Three inch throwing knives, short sword, glock
Personality:
Alia is quite the loyal human being. Loyalty to friends and her fellow BPRD members is important to her, almost more than anything else. Alia has been known to put her life in jeopardy numerous times to help a friend in need. It doesn’t take much at all to put others well being before her own. Now that nearly all of the men who raised her (those she saw as family) are now deceased, friends now fill that empty void. But of course she would never admit such a thing aloud.
One of her most obvious personality traits is the fact that Alia keeps most of her emotions locked away. Raised with the notion that emotions are often the pathway to destruction, at least for her, she has made a habit our of keeping her outward appearance calm and not giving in to he temptation of wearing her feelings on her sleeve. Having once been afraid that strong emotions would revert her to the mindset of a ravenous monster, she maintains her stoic behavior, often calming herself with daily meditation and prayer, just to make sure her daemons are kept at bay.
There is a side of Alia that not many are able to see, but is still there, lurking under her skin, waiting for the perfect time to show itself. Aggression is something Alia has not been able to run from and yet wouldn’t be the same without. When angered past a certain point, she has been known to act aggressively, be it with words or actions. It is often only those who are her enemies that see this side of her, where she feels she can only respond in a threatening manner and is able to let loose with all that emotion she has been keeping pent up inside her.
Skills:
FOREIGN LANGUAGES: With all the time she’s spent around the world Alia is able speak multiple languages such as English, Japanese, Arabic, and Bulgarian.
COMBAT: Though her adoptive Priest father frowned on any type of violence he couldn't stave off Alia's near fascination with combat, which some might say comes from her werewolf-nature. Even now Alia is constantly honing her hand-to-hand combat skills, always ready to spar with someone and improve her techniques. She also enjoys knife combat and specializes in throwing knives, given her acute sense of sight. Alia doesn't shy away from firearm usage but her skill is merely average.
Strengths: Given her preternatural abilities, Alia has amazing endurance and stamina and a high tolerance for pain which makes her quite valuable in the field. But even though she has impressive sheer brute strength, Alia is also very intelligent and well spoken. With a knack for literature, old and new, she is a well versed woman who is just as cunning as she is strong.
Weaknesses: Although Alia is both strong and durable in her werewolf form, that cannot be said when she is in her human one. While human, Alia can only possess her preternatural strength if she shifts most of her body. She is just as durable as any other human in her normal form as well. Alia has a deep fear of failure and failing those who are counting on her. In order to succeed and/or to protect those she is loyalty to, Alia will put herself at great risk.
Since her childhood Alia has had an allergic reaction to Wolfsbane and Mistletoe. When in close contact with the plants she will go into sever coughing and sneezing fits that can be quite crippling. Alia is also quite far sighted. She often keeps her reading glasses on hand at all times because of this. Another of her weaknesses is another allergic reaction to Silver, which can cause the deterioration of her skin, similar to a burn, if she comes in contact with the metal. If any of Alia's bodily organs are damaged by silver, they will heal at a near human rate.
The Story
History: In the depth of Bulgaria, once one is able to get past the biter cold and foreboding mountains, rests a town that is now nothing but a gathering of dilapidated buildings on a hillside, surrounding a pile of oddly shaped stones that once made up a house of god. Few know the story that surrounds the ghost town that was left behind- better yet, few claim they remember. But every once in a while, in the surrounding villages, a Priest will let the tale of Peshetra slip into a Sunday sermon, reminding all God fearing men of the day the Devil had almost won, but the light prevailed.
It was a relatively cool Spring in 1943 when all communication with the Bulgarian village of Peshetra stopped, without warning. It wasn't long till reports that the town was completely empty soon began to spread and eventually the surrounding towns sent small search parties out to see what had really happened to all the villages' inhabitants. The groups that did manage to make it back to their respective towns all reported the same thing. The town was vacant, except for the dead bodies that littered the streets and homes. Not a woman or child was spared, even the infants met their ultimate fate as they nestled in their cribs. Some were completely baffled by the event, and the fact that some, who had went to Peshetra to find out what had happened, simply never came back. But in this small corner of Bulgaria, legends speak volumes.
Priests, who knew the word of God quite well, also knew what lay beneath the small town. There were many words to describe exactly what it was. Hellhounds, Werewolves, Loup Garou, but back then, many found comfort in calling them 'Evil'. It was no secret that the town had been formed after the fall of the family of Preslav in 1434. The family had ruled over much of the surrounding area and had found pleasure in watching its people stave. So the townsfolk had laid siege to the castle and murdered most of the family in their sleep, the children as well, and burned the castle to the ground once they were done. To stop their evil from sprouting up once more, a church was built in its place and the town of Peshetra flowered around it.
They were a family of Evil that were thought to be buried deep beneath the church in a crypt, on the holiest of ground, but now it was obvious that not even that could stop the family from taking their revenge. Somehow the Preslav family had risen from the dark crypt beneath the church, but there was no time to think on exactly how such a thing could happen, centuries later, instead the surrounding towns knew immediate action was vital before the damned family was to spread any further.
Each town sent their most able and armed men, all lead by Priests and men of the cloth, ready to beat back the Evil as they had once done before. They chose daylight to ascend upon the town, hopping that would play in their favor. As they searched every corner of the village, many quickly found that it did not. Instead of a ravenous family, they were met with ravenous beasts that traveled on four legs instead of two. Hunger as well as hate was said to have twinkled in their eyes as they ripped through the men they had taken off guard. The battle seemed to last till the early hours of the morning as the men were desperate to obliterate all signs of the beasts. Burning them to ash once they'd been cut down as the Priests' spoke over the flames in hopes of truly vanquishing them forever, which they did. Under the eyes of their watchful God they were victorious.
All but a handful know what else happened that fateful day when light over came the darkness once again. Its said a Priest along with a few of his younger followers came across a hidden bundle in one of the corners of the vacant town. An infant wrapped in cloth had apparently been tucked away and hidden, and at first the Priest was confident that the child had been hidden by the villagers before the massacre had ended all of their lives. But as he scooped her up in hopes of rescuing the poor newborn, a sinking feeling in his stomach told him otherwise.
That story had been told to Alia at a young age by the men she'd taken to be her adoptive parents, as the story of her birth. Soon after the Priests had saved her, they'd taken her to St. Augustine's Monastery which, after a quick vote, was to become her home. All of them were sure the child, who had without a doubt spawned from the Preslav family, had evil burning deep within. Killing her was quickly pushed aside, as some of the priests' took the moment to be a sign from God. Surely they could raise her themselves and teach her to cast out that evil which could quite possibly consume her later in life. In the end they did teach her well, but casting out the so called 'evil' was an impossible task.
It wasn't till Alia neared her seventh birthday, that the priests (the head being Father Augustine) witnessed the evil first hand when the moon disappeared from the sky. They watched as her body changed before their eyes to that of a wolf, or better yet, a werewolf. Unable to communicate with her, and because of her inability to tell friend from foe, they locked her in a cell, till the next day when the forum subsided and she was a young girl again. But as Father Augustine found out, from that moment on, Alia's struggle with her other half would never truly end.
Every spare moment he had, Father Augustine used it to school his adopted daughter in prayer and meditation to quiet her emotions, which they soon found out triggered her werewolf form almost instantly. And each New Moon Alia was locked away in a cell, where she couldn't harm anyone, until her teen age years when Father Augustine realized she had begun to learn self control and had the ability to conquer her more violent other half. That was when Alia was allowed proper schooling on top of her other teachings, which in the end she happened to excel at. To the point where she began to surpass most teenagers her age intellectually. And by the time she was nineteen she began to beg her adoptive fathers to let her outside her home town so she could continue her education elsewhere.
By twenty two Alia was allowed to attend the University of Plovdiv that wasn't too far from her home in the monastery. Father Augustnie had enough faith in his adoptive daughter that she would take care of herself, though was order to return home during every new moon. Agreeing to his rules Alia went to the University and was quickly in awe of the world outside her own.
After four years Alia graduated with a degree in literature and archeology, which she soon found to be her calling. Soon after she went for her masters which is when she began to learn other languages such as English and Arabic. After graduating she pondered her doctorate until she received word that Father Augustine was on his death bed. Pushing her goals aside she found herself back with her adoptive father, where she remained until he died of cancer.
By 1960, feeling somewhat lost and with what had once been her goal suddenly not so important, Alia decided to leave her home and travel through the Balkans which then lead her all along Asia. In her travels Alia picked up on many languages and folklore and it didn't take her long to realize she wasn't the only one of her kind in the world, not by a long shot.
After her travels Alia went for her doctorate in Archeology, once again infused with an interest in the occult and the other world humans remain oblivious to. After finishing her doctorate Alia went on many excavations, filling her head with as much knowledge of times and places before her own as her brain could handle. But in 1980, her slow, almost non existent aging began to make people take notice of her so she was forced into seclusion for the next fifteen years, taking the time to study and travel in seclusion. It quickly became apparent that she would be forced to lay low every decade or two in order to be able to continue living without drawing attention to herself.
It was 1998 when she'd been on site in Budapest that she thought her secret was out. Men approached her there, men she was quick to assume were possible CIA agents, or perhaps some other branch of government's henchmen. There in Budapest they told her they could offer her a place where she wouldn't have to hide what she was, and could continue doing some of the work she loves so much. By 2000 Alia was taken in by the BPRD as an agent, and since she has not really looked back. Most recently she took time off to fly back to her home of Bulgaria after hearing the monastery she'd been raised in was facing closure, but has since returned, as she always does.
