Ash has an english rose complexion with pale skin and rosy cheeks. She has long wavy red hair and blue eyes. Has a definite rock chick flavour to her clothes with skinny jeans, motorcycle jacket and multiple rings/necklaces. Also still has a strong English accent.
Ashlyn Olivia Blackwood (Prefers to be known as Ash)
Wildheart
27
Female
Has the following powers:
Animal Shapeshifting - Can take the physical form of any animal she chooses. Any animal she changes into keeps the appearance, size and abilities it normally has
Enhanced Senses - She effectively has the enhanced senses of animals ie her eyes work like those of a cat, her hearing and sense of smell are on par with those of a dog
Enhanced physical traits - She has enhanced agility, speed and stamina which are all again similar to those in the animal kingdom. Ie her agilty and balance are like that of a cat, her stamina is akin to a wolf etc
Rapid Healing - She can heal from almost any wound in a very short space of time (think Wolverine from X-men)
Animal Communication - She can communicate with animals (animals think in images and sensations, her mind is able to translate these into words she understands
Has the following weaknesses:
Hyper metabolism - Perhaps the biggest drawback of her abilities is how much energy they require. As a result she burns energy at an alarming rate and must replenish it on a very regular basis. Practically this means she is almost always constantly eating (has large meals and more than three a day plus eating energy bars throughout the day in between meals) If for some reason she is unable to eat for longer than an hour then even without using her abilities she will begin to feel dizzy and pass out shortly afterwards. If she uses her physical abilities (shapeshifting, physical traits) a lot in a short space of time then she will need to eat a large meal immediately afterwards otherwise she will again collapse
Sensitivity to light and sound - Due to her senses being enhanced a sudden bright light or loud sound can disorient her for a short period of time (Effectively stunning her)
Chronic headaches and Migraines - She is unable to "switch off" her mental ability and as such always hears background noise from the creatures around her this makes her prone to headaches. If she uses this ability more than usual in a short time then the strain can cause a Migraine
She has the following skills:
In depth knowledge of animals both wild and domestic - Ash has degrees in Veterinary Medicine and Zoology and as such is very knowledgeable on most species health, behaviour, anatomy etc
Knowledge of history - Ash has soaked up whatever knowledge she could from her father and so knows a fair bit about ancient cultures particularly those of West Africa
Hand to Hand Combat - Ash began learning how to fight (mainly for defence) when she was a teenager and is now proficient at hand to hand combat. She refuses to use guns and prefers to fight without weapons
"I had the luck, or misfortune depending on how you look at it, to be born into the prestigious and wealthy Blackwood family. My father James, Earl of Blackwood, was from a long line of Blackwoods dating back several hundred years. The family was known as titled and of "old" money which meant you were welcome at all the best and most exclusive events held by the English nobility, which Adrian and my mother adored and my father and I loathed. I grew up with everything I could ever want, money, love and adventure, and I honestly can't think of a better childhood to have. My father was an Archaeologist and instead of sticking us in boarding schools he took us with him when he travelled. My mother happened to be a school teacher and so we were taught by her rather than in school. I thought this was great fun and I loved travelling the world and exploring old places and their history, Adrian not so much and I know he wished he were back home with his PC and gaming.
Things changed when I became a teenager though, my father began to act well...obsessed and everything became about his work and proving his theory. He had this crazy idea that the Orisha were real, Orisha being the Yoruba gods of west africa, and that he had somehow encountered one of them. Of course no one believed him and he became a laughingstock and his career ended up in tatters with everyone seeing him as a crackpot and a joke. Worse though was that his behaviour became so bad that my mother left him, she was American and decided to go home when things got too much. She took Adrian with her and wanted to take me too but I couldn't leave my father, he had no one else, so I insisted on staying. Fate you might say, if you believe in that sort of thing. I didn't believe in it or in his crazy theory but I loved him and thought if I helped him he might realise the truth and go back to how he was before. Silly really but I was a kid.
Our last trip to Africa was when it happened, when I lost my dad and my life changed forever. I was sixteen fresh out of school and I had decided to go on one last trip with my father before I went on to college and university. I thought taking a gap year would also help me figure out what I wanted to do as I was torn between following in my fathers footsteps and studying Archaeology or going into Veterinary Medicine. Our camp was attacked one night by local militia, turned out the area was rife with political upheaval and rival soldiers fighting one another, we happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don't really remember much of that night except in my dreams. Mostly shouting, screaming and blood lots of blood. I know everyone in our camp was killed my father included and that they came after me. I was found in the jungle a few days later surrounded by the dead bodies of the soldiers who had been chasing me, they had been savaged as though an animal had killed them.
Everyone believed that I had somehow miraculously survived first the soldiers and then the animal attack that had killed the soldiers but that's just a story. One I let people believe as it's easier than explaining what really happened. The truth? The truth that I don't dare tell anyone is that my father was right the Orisha were real or at least one was. I stumbled half dead from blood loss, I'd been shot though where I can't remember and there isn't of course a scar, onto a shrine to Aja Orisha of nature and animals. It's a blur after that but somehow I know that she did something to me, blessed me or gave me some of her power or something, and I was suddenly different. I woke up days later starving and surrounded by dead soldiers. I still dream about how it felt to kill them though less so these days. Anyway, after that I became how I am now. I hid it for a long time and tried to live a relatively normal life, I graduated with degrees in veterinary Medicine and Zoology and went to work in Africa where I figured my talents and education would be the most useful. Eighteen months ago I learned my mother had died and I moved to America to be closer to Adrian who I remained in contact with throughout the years.
He lived in a city that was rife with violence and crime and it was him that encouraged me to follow in other peoples footsteps and become a hero. He was the only one who knew what really happened the night my father died and about my secret."
Ash has two German Shepherd's called Artemis and Apollo and three cats called Bast, Aja and Smudge (her brother named the last one)
Their house, though small, regularly has visitors of the animal variety
Ash displays numerous animal quirks, perhaps due to her shapeshifting, which she has to consciously hide when around people except her brother
Member
Jangel13
BizarreLolli
