Full Name: Thea Rose Althane
Age: 20. Kidnapped at 19
Missing For: Thirteen months
Race: Technically still a human.
Heritage: The daughter of the current rulers of Altreiah. The Althanes have been the rulers here since its founding after the Sage Wars nearly two centuries past. There is a proud family rumor that mage blood runs in the Althane line, but evidence of that has not surfaced for a few generations, making one question the validity of it. However, the truth of it is what makes Thea one of the only people compatible with she Sage Scientists’ experiments. Her line has the blood of Scientists, Mages, and humans in it in equal parts with her generation.
General Appearance: With her mother’s lengthy red hair, and her father’s brown eyes, Thea is certainly no eyesore. She is of a petite build, often described as “delicate” by those of the castle, though never to her face when she was around, lest they face her ire. She is a bit on the short side, standing at only about 5’3”. Since the experiments, her pupils are bronze, flecks of gold glitter in her dark irises, and in the right light, a faint opalescent haze can be seen over their entirety. Though she once had a rather lovely light tan, she has grown rather pale from everything that has happened to her, plus a lack of sunlight for the past thirteen months. She has dark circles under her eyes because of an inability to get any decent amount of sleep, and her cheeks are a bit sunken, but with time and proper care, that can right itself. Though she was not exactly starved, she does look rather emaciated. Her fingernails also tend to grow long and strong… on her right hand, at least.
Distinguishing Marks: Areas of her body are covered with a type of organic (and thus non-magnetic) metal that has replaced the skin that once grew there. Though their shape varies depending on where they are, contouring to her less like the armor they have the appearance of, and more like an extra layer of skin, the metal’s colors constantly consist of a mix of gold, and various shades of bronze no matter where it’s found. Because of the magic involved with the metal’s creation and infusing it with a living being, it is coated with an opalescent sheen that glimmers in just the right light. This metal is always the same temperature as the un-metalized skin. Despite no visible joints to indicate ease of movement with the various pieces of metal, it moves with her muscles and the contours of her body as if it was her own skin, despite its hardness. It makes scarcely a whisper of a sound if it rubs together, but acts just like extra strong, metal armor in combat or any other situation. It adds very little bulk to her body, but is still shockingly durable. Only a close inspection will show that there is nothing external keeping it attached, and it is possible to see where it merges with her skin where the pieces meet it, with only a millimeter or so of a difference between the metal and the skin it seems to be resting on. Because it has replaced the skin, not just covered it, if it is damaged or removed, it will mend itself, completely regrowing if necessary. This mending process takes less time than if it was skin, quickened by magic residue. Lastly, she does not have the sense of touch where the metal has replaced her skin. She can tell when something is touching them in a kind of “sixth sense” way, but she cannot feel textures or temperatures that are not extreme enough to penetrate the metal.
Where It’s At: 1. A series of plates coat the right side of her upper body from just below her rib cage downward. These extend from the center of her stomach, including half of her navel, to her spine. These plates extend to cover the outside of her thigh before connecting with #2. 2. A couple pieces of the metal encompass the bottom half of her right kneecap and extend about six inches down her calf, much like a seamless, unfinished greave. 3. Her entire left arm, extending up to her neckline. It, like with the rest of the metal’s placement, has an elegant air about it, giving it the illusion of normal, albeit ostentatious, armor from a distance. Multiple overlapping plates go from her neck to near her armpit, where they surround her entire upper arm, reminiscent of a rerebrace. The plates turn into a form-fitting vambrace below her elbow, then what looks like a gauntlet, covering her entire hand. The gauntlet area forms to each knuckle and tendon, making it look, well, like a metal hand. At the center of the palm is a flat crystal formed into a smooth circle about the size of a quarter, its edges flawlessly in line with the flexible metal covering her palm. It, like the organic metal, moves akin to skin. Crystalline veins snake out from it, following and acting as what were once her flexion creases. 4. A good portion of her left leg. It starts at about mid-thigh (think like a cuisse, for a reference point, only completely surrounding the leg), where it connects to a similar setup as her right leg, only it extends down to her ankle and spreads about an inch over the top of her foot where it visibly merges with the skin.
Clothes Wear: When a resident of the castle, she was commonly seen in elegant dresses with draping sleeves. But now, she really does not much care. Anything is better than the nightgown she escaped in. Clothes are clothes. They’re the least of her problems.
The Experiments: Without getting into the more… gruesome details, they first tested her compatibility by using a thick, liquid-like substance equal parts lab-creation, organic materials, and magic that they injected her with, a test Thea was the first—and, so far, only—person to survive. Because of the how, what, and where, the results of the concoction was a stronger bone density, and thus a significantly heavier bone structure. With the said success, they began creating the “living” metal plates to specifically fit her, a process that only the Sages—one Scientist, one Mage—who worked on her had managed to find the final key of proper combination for. Though difficult and taxing to create, the necessity of it drove them onward, fusing them with Thea’s body to create the perfect mix of science, magic, and neutral (human/ordinary) energy. They attached these plates with a mix of science and magic that falls under those “gruesome details.”
The Experiment’s Physical Affects: The Good/Strengths: 1. Enhanced Bone Density. This means it is far difficult, leaning toward impossible, for her to break her bones. 2. Strength. When her bone density was altered, her muscles were forced to adapt quickly. Though still working on fully adapting, she already has an uncanny amount of strength that only continues to grow. 3. Enhanced Perception. Though not an extreme enhancement, she can pick out patterns, and her mind is a bit sharper in general, giving her something close to, but not quite, an eidetic memory, and allowing her to take in her surroundings at a quicker rate. 4. Heightened Senses. Again, not by a lot, but enough to be superior to a human’s. This includes a bit better eyesight at night, which has a bit to do with frequently being in the dark. Magic-Related Abilities. Discussed further below.
The Bad/Weaknesses: 1. Extra Weight. And I don’t mean a couple pounds in flab. With increased bone density comes excessive weight, and, though the metal on her body is relatively light, it still adds a few pounds on top of the hefty weight gain to her skeletal structure. 2. She’s Slow. Though she can be fairly quick when she needs to be, speed is not something on her side with all the extra weight, and the pain she’s in. Outrunning anything more than a caffeinated snail is pretty much out of the question. 3. Low Stamina. Her body has not gotten the chance to come anywhere near adjusting to all the changes it has undergone. Because her body is putting most of its energy toward figuring what the heck to do with everything, and what needs to take priority, her energy depletes quickly. If she does run, she can’t do it for long. Simply moving as most people do is taxing in and of itself. 4. Constant Pain. Though her body is capable of accepting the changes without her dying, it has no idea how to react to it all. Because of the compatibility test, the very marrow of her bones and her muscles ache, while the areas covered by and immediately surrounding the organic metal usually feels something between an irritating prickle and like someone is skinning it with a heated blade depending on the day and how long she has had it for. She still cannot support all her weight on her left arm without it sending a shooting pain down it. Basically, she has pain signals firing off 24-7. She only hopes that, without further experiments going on with her escape, that will all fade once her body has the chance to adjust. 5. Amnesia. Because of everything, she’s also a bit messed up in the head, and not just emotionally or personality-wise. Her memories of anything prior to the compatibility test are virtually non-existent, leaving only something like the bitter aftertaste that lingers in the mouth after smelling a familiar smell that you can’t quite place. She gets feelings and jumbled pictures when she encounters something vaguely familiar, but only sometimes. She doesn’t even remember her own name. There’s no way to know if she can ever fully get her memories back, and she is not entirely sure she wants them back. 6. Slower Healing. With her body’s focus a bit of everywhere, her normal healing capabilities are a bit slowed, outside the regenerative abilities of the organic metal. Not by a whole lot, but enough to be noticeable and annoying, to say the least.
Abilities Non-magic: She can hold her breath for a long time, thanks to many days spent in the lake and river not far from the castle she called home. For other physical abilities, refer to the section above.
Magic Abilities (Experiment-Induced): Power Bursts: She can shoot bursts of energy. Stronger when using her left arm, and with strong emotions. Energy Blades: Thea can summon swords made of swirling, opalescent energy that work like tangible swords. Once formed, she cannot change their shape, the left one is always stronger than the right, and they can only handle so many hefty hits before “shattering,” the number only as high as Thea’s overall stamina; each hit uses her energy reserves to maintain their existence, reserves that are not very high to begin with. Currently, this is an undiscovered ability. Energy Absorption and Diversion: Left-handed, she is capable of absorbing energy—magically or scientifically created, such as electricity—and either using it to slightly strengthen a single power burst or divert it elsewhere. She can also choose to do neither, but if she holds it for too long or absorbs too much, it could burn her out. Right-handed, she can catch it, but it is risky, and could do her more harm than good. She has not discovered this power yet, but the capability is there. Science Cancelation: Couldn’t think of a better term for this in the moment. Because of the aura that radiates from her, some things powered by science don’t work properly—if at all—around her.
Weaknesses: (See the above section “The Experiment’s Physical Affects” under “The Bad” for further weaknesses.) The Mage: The Sage Mage who had a hand in the experiments. Because his magic helped create her and aided in preventing her from dying, she cannot counter it, and is extremely susceptible to it, deeming her practically useless against him. The Scientist: The Sage Scientist involved in her experiments. The aura that blocks some science aspects does not work with anything he uses or has created, as if his own aura blocks out her nullifying effect on gadgets. He also has a full-proof way of bringing her down, if she turned on him: an implant of sorts that could bring her to her knees in an instant at the push of a button he keeps hidden on him at all times in an easily accessible place. However, he has to be within close range to use it. Herself: She is one of her own worst enemies, from her terror of Scientists and Mages (rebel or otherwise) conflicting with her desire to stop the wretches, to her fear and hatred of what she has been turned into—and is the process of becoming becoming.
Weapons: Her strength, power bursts, and energy blades.
Personality: Before Kidnapping: She was always a feisty, strong-willed, and adventurous girl, who seemed to not have a care in the world, even when her eyes showed otherwise. Thea was once very animated, and had the bad habit of always speaking her mind and not bothering to hide her feelings, even on those occasions when courtesy dictated she should have. She was compassionate, especially toward animals, and could never not help a wounded animal—or person—even if it may have put herself at risk.
After Kidnapping: Thea’s sense of adventure and her carefree nature have been brutally stolen from her. All she cares about is survival, and escaping her pain. She is extremely paranoid and jumpy, unsure who to trust since she never saw the Sages’ faces, and anyone could be one of them or their men hunting her down to bring her back. She often seems to be irate with a quick temper, and can be quite mouthy, thanks in part to the constant pain she is in. However, she is also skittish, and either shies away from or automatically becomes defensive with any form of physical contact with people, since really the only bit of that she remembers involves no small amount of pain. She has also lost a good deal of her compassion, which scares her thanks to the faint feelings of who she was that remain, worrying only about herself. She has to do what she has to do to survive and avoid meeting her Sages again. Ultimately, she has become a mere shadow of who she once was.
Ticks and Tags: Ticks: Subconsciously rubs her left arm. Fingers her pendant when wearing it, which she has not done since hiding it so the Sages would not take it away. Is a lip-biter. Tags: Startles at any sudden sounds, as if it might be the Sages or their guards. After escaping, never takes off her necklace, as described below. Is a bit clumsy.
Fears: Losing what little remains of who she was before the experiments. Of losing the remainder of her humanity… at least, she thinks she was human, but for all she remembers, she could be a lake monster in disguise. Of never regaining her full memories. Of regaining her full memories. Being recaptured. Scientists and Mages, especially the Sages who worked on her. Small spaces, especially if secluded or underground. What her captors planned on doing with her and her abilities.
Family: Parents: King Elyon (recently deceased) and Queen Sibyl.
Siblings: Cedric (23, recently ascended to the throne) and Asher (17).
Cherished Object: A necklace gifted her by her father. It is of a blue stone that makes her think of the sea set in silver wire. He said it was an heirloom passed down from generation to generation, going to the firstborn female child in the family. Since he had no sisters, as the eldest, it went to him. He gave it to Thea on her eighteenth birthday. She managed to keep this hidden for the last year, tucked away in a makeshift pocket in her nightdress. Though she could not fully remember why it had value to her, she still remembered that it did, making it the only thing still connecting her with who she was before the Sages got to her.
Other: First, even her aura is a bit altered, having a fluctuating, almost electric feel to it to those who can sense such a thing, as if it can’t make up its mind whether it belongs to a human, magic being, or science experiment. Second, she has a wolf companion named Zane. When she was sixteen, she found him as a pup, wounded and abandoned. She nursed him back to health, and he refused to leave her side, becoming a fierce friend and protector. He has a sleek pelt, with fur that is mostly gray with black markings. To this day, he has a scar on his snout where fur will not grow.
Short Bio: Though both her parents were always affectionate to both her and her brothers, being the only Althane princess, Thea’s father tended to dote upon her growing up. He was always a little extra protective of her, and enjoyed spoiling her a bit, a fact she has always suspected her elder brother, Cedric, was jealous of. Unlike many other royal families who married off their daughters at young ages for the sake of ensuring treaties, in their relative time of peace, it was found, to both her and the king’s delight, rather unnecessary, allowing her the uncommon freedom of remaining unwed outside her own terms.
Despite being spoiled in her youth, Thea never much cared about material things, and loved following her family around, especially Cedric, though it annoyed him to no end. She was always a fun-loving, mischievous child, whom all the castle’s servants knew well, some of whom she would shadow nearly as often as she did Cedric and Elyon.
When she was five, the rumor of werewolves in their kingdom made its way to the royal city. Panicked, the people began to hunt them, and thus the werewolves retaliated for their sake, the monarchy of the race threatening to declare war on the kingdom should their people continue to be slaughtered.
To prevent going to war with the race, King Elyon proposed a peace treaty. He invited the werewolf royals and as many of their most trusted men as they thought necessary to bring to a feast as a show of his desire to work with, not against, them.
It’s there, at the feast and during the signing of the treaty, that Thea met a child around her age, the child of the king and queen of werewolves: Byrce. The two became fast friends—at least, she thought so, whether he agreed with that or not—and spent the time the werewolves were there together.
Thankfully, the treaty went well, and both parties parted knowing they had made a new ally. The king declared the hunting of werewolves forbidden, turning it into a crime punishable by either exile or death, as determined by the werewolf and Altreiah’s kings.
As the years passed, Thea and Byrce’s friendship only grew, strengthening when she happened to be present for his first transformation into a wolf.
Though King Elyon was a bit wary about their relationship at first, he slowly began to trust the boy, allowing him and his parents to come and go as they pleased. However, he still always demanded Thea inform him when she was with Byrce, still a bit unnerved by the thought of her being out, alone, with a werewolf, regardless of the treaty.
Sadly, even without her father’s disapproval, duties and classes began to keep the two apart more and more frequently, making Thea cherish those precious times when they could sneak away to meet that much more.
When she was sixteen, using a secret exit in the back garden she had found when she was younger, a passage she was sure was long since forgotten judging by its state, she snuck out of the castle to meet with Byrce without having to worry about getting an earful on being careful, or talk him out of sending a knight with her for her protection.
Before she could meet up with him, she found a small wolf pup, abandoned with a broken leg and a long, bleeding cut on its snout. With the pup carefully wrapped in her skirts, she hurried back to the castle to tend to the poor creature. She nursed the pup back to health, refusing to leave it until he had recovered.
When the pup was well, he, in turn, refused to not be by her side. Though she tried once to return him to the wild, the pup, whom she decided to name, would not leave. He became her companion, and was never seen far from her. If he was around, you knew Thea was somewhere in the room with him. He took on the role of a friend and protector. Though it took him a while to warm up to Byrce, in the end, Zane did, joining them whenever they were together.
For the two years following, they continued to live in a relative peace. But then, rumors spread of people vanishing, only to turn up dead, if at all, with evidence that suggested the scientists had begun to resurface. Many kingdoms and mages banded together to try hunting down whoever was taking their people, to put an end to the scientists they had believed had been wiped out.
Then, when Thea was nineteen, the unthinkable happened. A few months had gone by without hearing anything out of the usual on the Scientist front, but still, the king had enacted the order that Thea remained in the bounds of the castle. But, of course, she did not listen, and was captured while with Byrce.
She had no way of telling how long she was held captive for, her time there filled with anguish and agony, separated from even the sight of the sun, but it felt like an eternity. Until, at long last, she managed to escape the clutches of the Sages… for now, at least.
