Arianna 'Anna' Lombardi, "The Butcher of Trinidad"
Gender: Female
Age: 32
Personality: Warm, even jovial, but cunning. The switch between "Anna" and "Arianna Lombardi" is almost visible — from someone who would happily carry a conversation about utterly meaningless minutia, to a icy murderess. Sometimes, when she's acting as Anna, she might even pretend that the other part doesn't exist. Despite denying that part of her nature, she's never slow to cleave to it, when the time to kill comes.
This makes her seem like two different people, even if she doesn't feel like it's that way. One moment, you're dealing with an amiable friend, and the next, she's killing. For her, it's a method of compartmentalization. Because she does heinous things, like murder, she shouldn't be allowed to live a happy, normal life. By separating the two mental states so sharply, she willingly lives a double life, to preserve both her ability to be happy, and her ability to work.
Appearance: Anna stands at a respectable 1.65 meters, with lightly tanned skin. Her voice carries a soft Italian accent, well diluted by her years away from the fatherland. When in public, she wears gloves that cover up to her elbows, made of a soft silk, imitating the style of rich ladies. In reality, they conceal the crisscross of
16 Command Seal that cover her left forearm. Much of her body is marred by scars and marks. Old blade and bullet wounds.
Biography: Born in the center of the Kingdom of Italy, Arianna Lombardi was destined for nothing. That isn't to say she had no destiny - instead, she would simply amount to nothing as person. A commoner. She was seven when the Great War started, and watched her father leave to go fight the Austrians. Her mother, in the absence of her husband, grew to be a lush and a hussy. Heavy-set men she barely knew circled her home like vultures. That would always have led to conflict. A pair of construction workers, 'friends' of her mother, fought over her. One cut the other down, and then turned on her mother. Arianna didn't - couldn't - do anything. So, she ran away.
That's what people without power do, when things become scary. They run.
Of course her mother was dead. At some point, her father died in the war. For half a year, she lived on the filthy streets of Rome, stealing and begging to survive. There was no consideration given to those she took from. Eventually, even the Church was seen as a legitimate target for larceny. By then, she was ten years old, and not unhardened by her time on the hard streets. It was tough, and so, she had to be tough. But she was hardly tough enough to look the wizened old man who caught her in the eye, and to rob his church anyway. Besides, she convinced herself. She could use him. What was some of her time, cooking and cleaning, for a roof? And, of course, it was just natural for her to learn how to
really fight. There was a war on, after all. The Austrians could've broken through at any time, and where would she be when they took their wrath out on her home?
It was 1920 when her and her... 'Father', Antonio Lombardi, left Spain. He never explained why, and she never asked. But, after that, when they got to the much, much larger cathedrals of Germany, she rarely saw him. And things changed. Became more clear. At first, they showed her horrible things. Bodies. Murders. Torture. Death. And then they told her, 'This is the stain of heresy on our world.' The mere idea that heresy like that could exist was disturbing. That men could turn from the light so willingly, and so far from it. She had been mentally prepared - groomed, perhaps - for the position she took. When she was thirteen, she joined the Eight Sacrament, a secret arm of the Church dedicated to the research and recovery of holy relics. She would stay there for a number of years, but her new destiny would take her to harsher places. Darker places. But those years, when she was working with her father and taking care of the past were the most peaceful times in her life. It was a time of ease and comfort, when she finally had a place in the world. But, of course, when they offered another, more important, way to serve the Lord, how could she turn away?
She was officially made an Executor in February of 1927. The years after that were a blur. She stayed in Germany for much of it, occasionally visiting other nations to perform the 'Lord's work'. The crumbling Russian Empire, to put down a coven of witches. The colonies of Mozambique, to purify a town clutched by evil. Some years after her appointment, in 1933, the world shifted away. Antonio was killed by the SS, along with an indeterminate number of others, to secure the power of the NSDAP. Germany finished what their Austrian brothers had started, murdering her second father. This period of time saw many, many more incidents for her. More work. More aggressive killing - the style, many would say - had changed. But she hadn't. She was just the same Anna, after all. She wasn't allowed to return to Germany - now the German Reich - but that was fine. She had no interest in going back.
There's no good reason that she was picked for this role - she's probably not even the best person for the job, given that she's nearly certainly biased - but that hardly matters. She's the overseer the war is getting.
They probably would've preferred if her father could've taken the job.
Origin: Duality.
Elemental Affinity: Fire
Equipment:
Black Keys, naturally, but these are honestly not used very often. They're, to her, a tool that's good for exactly one job, and nothing else. Why use them on anything but what they're made for?
And to that end, most her of equipment is fairly mundane, but collected from a diverse range of sources. The trenchknife of a Hungarian. The revolver of a Frenchman. The rifle of a Russian. A set of pistols, from an American. The saber of a Turkish cavalryman. Every single one of them has some kind of story, some kind of history before she took it. Even if it's meaningless, she appreciates it. History like that doesn't do anything to make the weapon more effective, but it's nice to know.
With one very notable exception.
One weapon she keeps,
Passion, does not fit in. While most of her equipment is contemporary, or at least of a modern make, the rondel she sometimes carries is unmistakably archaic. Forged of simple iron, the weapon is, in theory, forged from one of the nailed used to pin Jesus Christ for his Crucifixion. While that may not be true, it hardly diminishes the status it has as a relic. Just as the nail once pinned Christ, Passion now pins Magus. When pierced by the point of the weapon, each of their Magic Circuits are locked up - frozen. While under that effect, their Circuits are not able to carry any prana through to influence the world. However, it does not actually damage them in the long term, merely suspending them until they no longer have it inside of them. Due to it's nature, she refers to it as a 'sin binding' type of weapon.
Skills:
Like all members of the Church, she's been taught the basic and fundamental mystery used by the Church - the Baptism Ritual. A simple ritual, with a count of ten aria. This ritual is only for banishing demon or excising spirits, though it is shockingly powerful in that role. It, however, has very little ability to influence physical beings, as they are firmly tied to the world, and to Servants, who are flatly too powerful to care about such an attempt.
Naturally, she's well read on the Bible and all of the classic teachings of her faith. She'd be a poor example, otherwise.
Her special position has
required allowed her knowledge of heresy - of Magecraft's nature, of demons, and of Dead Apostles. She'd be dead, otherwise.
Her combat ability far outstrips even the most hardened of veterans, but this mostly is centered around the use of bladed weapons. Particularly, swords and daggers. While she's a master of various styles, ranging from classic French dueling to the more brutal methods used by the soldiers of the Great War, this is the focus, not the scope, of her talents. She's far more than competent with a firearm, easily tracking and taking moving targets from long ranges, and an experienced bomb maker. She's also rather experienced with wilderness survival and horsemanship, but the latter is really more of a hobby.
Member
