Name: Claire Lorcan
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Role: Bodyguard
Apartment No: 5A
Race: Dullahan
Appearance:
AbilitiesMost of Claire’s magic is shown in the connection her head has to her body, being the fact they’re not connected at all. She still has to breathe and eat, but it’s very obvious that magic connects the two body parts, both in the fact that food doesn’t just fall out the bottom of her head as well as a dark and unnatural smoke that covers what would otherwise be grotesque openings. Other than that she, like all Dullahan, possesses her own steed who has the ability to be summoned in darkness and night. Having bonded with Thanatos long ago after his death her fae magic now binds his soul to her. It’s not unusual to find them together whenever Claire is otherwise alone or even in the company of others such as herself. Aside from Thanatos Claire possesses an unnaturally deadly precision with whips, at her height being able to strike a fly from the air, as well as the ability to have locks and gates open to her approach – with effort.
Strengths/WeaknessesIf anyone were to ask Claire would state immediately that her greatest strength is Thanatos, and it’s not far from the truth. While she may be able to hold her own, as well as have the unfair escape advantage for herself and her charge in locks not being able to contain her, her best mobility comes from her horse, and their combined prowess is frightening. Yet Dullahan are said to have terrible vision, but make up for it by being able to see for miles and right into the house of those they seek merely by lifting their severed heads to the sky. Unfortunately for Claire that little trick only makes her look like an idiot by holding her head in the air for no reason, with her vision still being horrid. In truth Claire has a horrible time seeing long distance, and jokingly says she can only see as far as her whip.
As a direct result of this whenever she’s not in her human form she is terribly protective of keeping her head close, afraid of not being able to find her body once separated. Since, as mentioned, she’ s still alive despite the separation of head and body this would leave the Dullahan completely vulnerable – even just smothering her head without her body there to defend it would end in both perishing. This isn’t the only drawback to her separation however, as Claire can only speak when in her human form with magic binding her head to her body once more – at least for a time. That’s not to say she can’t speak ever, but she’s only spoken one word with her head separated. Last, Claire has a fear of gold and it burns her severely – it can be nearby, but god help the person who brings it closer to her.
Oh, and she also has to deal with Thanatos’ pouting whenever she comes home from riding her motorcycle.
Claire was born into a somewhat large, but not exactly wealthy family in Ireland. She was the third child in the Lorcan family, and their first daughter. By all accounts the day of her birth would be a joyous and momentous occasion for her mother and father, and it was! At least for the first few minutes that she came into the world. Then her head fell off.
That poor midwife retired the day after.
Despite the harrowing experience Claire was impossibly still alive, and it was the first day that began her family’s life of solitude. Dullahan were a dark breed of fairy and a herald of death, so the decision to squirrel Claire away was made for the interest of her entire family. They ended up far from their original home, setting up in the Irish countryside as herders. The Lorcans built connections with the surrounding towns but mostly stayed to themselves over the years, only venturing to town when necessary.
It was the perfect arrangement. Claire and her family were safe with her hidden away, their business quickly became successful, and she was seemingly only in danger from her older brothers pranking her by hiding her head in dark places when Mom and Dad weren’t around. Really aside from the obvious lack of neck connection and lack of respect for locks she was like any other little girl. She did her chores dutifully, always had a wide smile on her face, and especially enjoyed watching the herd of wild horses that roamed the lands around their home.
Then as the days grew short and the nights cold the watching became obsessive. Her parents quickly grew worried at the way Claire’s eyes would seem to lose color as she watched the herd, in particular the horses’ leader – a great, black beast of a shire. It continued for weeks with her parents attempting to sway her interest from them, but eventually came to a head. On this particular day Claire was restless and wouldn’t stop roaming, clutching her head like a lifeline. When she finally did it was a little ways away from home, her mother following her in hopes of finding out what was distressing her little one when she heard Claire speak for the very first time without her head in a tentative perch on her neck.
“Thanatos.”
After that Claire seemed to return to normal, through the whole process her grin never fading. She didn’t speak further but happily returned home with her mother. Later that night her family was awoken by a horrid screeching coming from the lands, and fearing for their herd her father left the house with a shot gun to investigate. He found the leader of the herd having fought off a starved predator, bleeding to death in the spot Claire spoke earlier. There was nothing else to be done for him.
Over the next weeks strange occurrences continued to happen around Claire, though all they did was delight her. A great hulking shadow seemed to follow Claire at times, her family only catching sight of it from the corner of their eyes before it would disappear. Her father swore he saw the old horse, the one he knew died for he was with it, watching his family off in the distance with blackened eyes and a human spine wrapped around his thick neck. Her eldest brother was the first to find the horse with Claire, her happily petting its nose while he stood there docilely. It only became more frequent.
Thanatos was soon a permanent fixture in her home, as unnerving as he was. He was also the only soul Claire ever heralded, and even morbid curiosity in her teenage years never got another incident quite like it. To be honest she’s quite happy with it that way. Plus he brought her the gift of her whip, as creepy as the spine was to anyone else!
Eventually as her powers grew from puberty Claire could “weld” her head to its proper place for a few hours, letting her speak without fear of her head losing balance and toppling off. It was an all-new sort of freedom, and when she grew of age Claire found herself spreading her wings and leaving the safety of home to find others. Claire quickly found she loved people in a sort of detached way, often describing others as ‘amusing’. Despite it she’s always friendly, though perhaps it only appears that way from the never wavering grin on her face. Whenever she did find someone particularly interesting – usually those who bore her oddities without remark and remained polite – she grew protective of them like one might to a pet. Which to Claire doesn’t sound that bad; Thanatos is a pet and he’s her best friend! In time she came to Primrose Terrace, and though her wanderlust knew no bounds she soon made friends with one of the residents, and quickly became his bodyguard as she bonded with him. It was only recently that he moved on and Claire is beginning to feel that itch to move on once more – but, well, Thanatos likes it here so she supposes she can stay a little longer.
Other: Due to being unable to ride Thanatos in the city streets and hating not having the wind in her hair, when Claire first came to the city she used her funds to purchase a motorcycle, and promptly named it Luciana. Thanatos is intensely jealous she rides that poor excuse for a metal horse around. Claire can also never stop grinning and finds the range of emotions others can use fascinating. She doesn’t like saying peoples’ names and will refer to them by nicknames often. Claire’s also so far in the closet she’s visiting Narnia.
There we go. I slipped a few puns in the bio there.
I realize it’s a bit of an oddity, but I got the idea while reading up more on Dullahans and wanted to at least try it! If you don’t think the character is a good fit for the RP I can write another up however, I’m flexible. :) I might also fiddle with the bio later, but it’s late and I wish to sleep – just wanted to get this up.
And, uh, sorry for the long bio. I really like writing them. I'll compress it later if you don't feel like reading it.
