"Putting one's self before all others is the only way to stay alive" Name: Katerina Pietri
Alias(s): Bella Strega
Age: 22
Physical Appearance: Katerina is an extraordinarily beautiful young woman. She has an oval face with fine bone structure, a wealth of dark curly hair, and almond-shaped, deep brown eyes framed by long wispy lashes. She is often seen wearing elaborate gowns in many different shades but always of exquisite taste and quality. Her figure is slim with a slight hourglass shape. She stands at a modest 5'5".
But Katerina is anything but modest. She is very vain and spends a considerable amount of time on her appearance. She knows how to dress well. Everything she wears is chosen with purpose and care. Where she comes from a woman's value is largely based on what she looks like, so her vanity can be somewhat justified.
Personality: Katerina hasn't had an easy life and it left its mark. She is tough, independent, selfish, smart and has an incredible sense of self-preservation. There is nothing she wouldn't do to ensure her own survival. She has been known to have a knack for creating elaborate plans and deceptions. If a task needs doing, she'll find a way to accomplish it, usually through a combination of uncompromising will and skilled manipulation of people and circumstances. Her eyes always seem to be hiding something Her mannerisms are more deliberate, her true feelings hidden, almost as if she is performing for an audience. She is such a skilled liar and actress that her "friends" are often left wondering. Did she really care about me or did she just use me?
Abilities and skills:- Gifted fortune teller
- Skilled at reading people, their behavior, body language and facial expressions
- Possesses intimate knowledge of the Italian esoteric traditions
- Speaks and writes fluent Italian
Weapons & Equipment: - An old and frayed deck of playing cards
- Several "prayer" books written in Italian
- A fine Damascus steel dagger
Brief History: Katerina grew up in a traditional Catholic home. The Pietri family was very poor but happy. Katerina´s father earned an honest wage as a cobbler and her mother stayed at home taking care of the family. The youngest of four children she unlike her three older brothers received a very different upbringing. The men in the family all took up similar trades to their father, but Katerina was groomed for marriage from a very young age.
They had her life all planned out. Her childhood was mainly spent learning how to cook, clean, sew and be a loving and proper wife for her future husband. Being beautiful was more important than being smart and to have an opinion of her own was not encouraged. Katerina learned how to bite her tongue to spare herself from getting lectured by her stern mother and grandmother.
As she got older men started to take notice of her physical appearance finding her to be quite pleasing to the eye. Before long Katerina started to notice them too. She fell in love but it was doomed from the beginning, she was already promised to a another. Some distant future husband. The future was still so far away in her eyes. Katerina was young and stupid. She truly believed she was in love. She had a child out of wedlock putting her entire family to shame. They disowned her after she gave birth in secret. She lost her baby and was forced out onto the streets. Suddenly blood was no longer thicker than water.
At the tail end of a couple of rough years on her own she caught the eye of an English man of considerable wealth. Katerina didn´t waste any time and she knew he was her way out, away from the streets and into the life of luxury she was meant to have. They married just a month after their first acquintance and she moved with him to London. Once in England Katerina quickly became English, taking the name of Katherine Pierce.
