Full Name: Sylvia Ulfbitenn
Name: Sylvia
Surname(s): Ulfbitenn
Age: 52
Title(s): Duchess of Suthra
Nickname(s): The Iron Lady, The Impaler, The Great Devourer, The Moon Mother, The Butcher of Suthra
Sex: Female
Appearance:
Eye Color: Dark Red
Hair Color: Crimson With White Streaks
Skin Tone: Pale
Height: 7'1
Weight: 265
Brief Description: A life of being a warrior has left Sylvia with many scars, especially those that cover her face, though she would only say that it adds to her beauty, the tall woman does have a tendency to let her long red hair cover her features. Her height is another thing about it that one immediately notices, and she knows how to use that and her stature to great effect in getting attention to get exactly what she wants or intimidate those around her.
As there are many entrances not made for a woman of her size she has to duck a little bit, and purposefully puts on a great show of it every time. Creating the illusion of a monster coming into the room and letting those around her know exactly what they are dealing with. Then again it depends on who the people she dealing with are to how they might receive this this appearance and as such it comes from many varieties.
All the way from the happy smiling faces of the people of her village, including children who will run up to her with the desire that she will carry them on her shoulder. Which she is only to happy to do, as a smile spreads over her features and the female vampire shows he people a warmth and caring she gives to few other mortals. If it is her prisoners, then that all depends on if they are male or female, as it is rare for her to go down and deal with the male prisoners… cooking is not her job after all, but when she feels the need to torture them herself… then they get to see a beast that few outside of the castle do. The female persons, it is a mixed bag… as she throws on a charming almost seductive tone. Sylvia sees it as more fun if the human woman she invites into her castle don't want to leave, and more than a few have warmed her bed over the years, before being turned into thralls.
On outside business among her own kind or when dealing with humans whom she can't threaten outside of the village to keep up appearance. Sylvia can come across as very cold, with a gaze that seems to send a shiver down ones spine. As she purposefully uses her height to look down on people. Only a few people have gained her respect such as the man who turned her into a vampire. Her normal attitude of misandry does not extend to her own kind, as they are superior beings, but sadly too few in number to fight over stupid things like which gender might be better. Such arguments can come later when all the cattle of humanity is brought to heel… a long term thought process, but it softens her quit a bit when around the others of her kind.
In fact how she treats them is also in a strangely mother hen style, if not as with a deep care that she treats her daughter and her people. True she might always ask about their health… how they are doing… making sure they are taking care of their herd, and rather basic things. Things that would make one think she is trying to play the role of a mom, but no… it is about survival. Their numbers as a species is too small to risk anything happening to each member, and so Sylvia sees taking care of the others as taking care of herself and her village.
Another noticeable detail about her is a long scar that goes up her left arm. It was made by a hunter who was able to sneak into her castle in the days before her daughters were born, and she was not as mature and careful as she was now. The man came close to shooting her through the face with a silver arrow, and she just managed to block it with her hand, only to have her arm run through with a spear… needless to say the limb has never been the same since. Requiring her to learn to fight with one arm while that one healed to a usable point.
Now that it has done so, she considers it a point of pride to fight with that messed up arm, until a enemy forces her to switch it up or use both. It is rather well known that should she do so, she is either being pushed or she is angry and wishes to end the enemy in front of her. Either way it means that she is taking them seriously and it makes her much more dangerous.
Magic Affinity: Strong (Potential Extreme Development in far future)
Precognition: Moon Vision: Her eyes will glow blue when this ability is turned on, and she can see up to ten seconds into the future. Though the future she pushes this ability and the longer she uses it will cause damage to her eyes.
Time Stop: Luner Eclipse: (Long Term Development)
Mirror Image: Light of the Moon: (Later Magical Development)
Necromancy: She can use various Necromancy spells to raise things from the dead and control them.
Battle Magic: She can use magic to increase her speed and strength by drawing from her raw magical reserves
Skills:
The Ways of War- Sylvia given her size and strength, which has now been compounded further as a member of the nightly court has always been an accomplished swordswoman. She gets a certain sadistic pleasure in challenging men to a fight and bringing them to heel. In some cases even playing with her food at her castle by saying if they can beat her in a sword fight she will give them their freedom… before cutting them down bit by bit and letting her daughters finish them off
She is also a rather accomplished tactician, though this is most in defensive warfare because of were her castle is and the need to protect her people. The dangers that lurk in the region have always required the female vampire to think in such a manner.
Magic- Mostly Sylvia sees the power of cold hard steel and the power of flesh to get things done, but every now and then one must sprinkle in a bit of secret sauce. She has found ways in the past to bring people back from the dead, especially with the help of her cult and any sacrifices they might drag in. Oh the silly men have their other uses too… and as such it can turn her now dead maidan thralls into an undead being. As she has slowly began to populate mountain passes with to watch over and defend the area… buried and waiting in shallow graves.
Likes/Joys:
• Her Daughter's- Sylvia has three daughter's who hold court with her in the castle, Nora, Marie, and Donna, a trio who for the large woman mean everything in her life. Two out of the three have been turned into vampire, with Marie the youngest in appearance… almost looking like a child being the first. Then there is Bella who has developed a cannibalistic hunger, so she prefers her men whole… a tendency that Marie even sometime shares. Then there is Nora, a young woman who eventually shall be turned, but she is now considered the emissary between the village and Sylvia.
Her job being that she acts as a human face for outsides at a local inn just outside of the village and leads them to her mothers castle to be fed. Just like her proverbial sister Donna she has developed a taste for human meat even before the arrangement because of a situation of survival as a child that Sylvia plucked her out of and placed her under her proverbial wing. The trio make up a strong bedrock of defense for their mother and the people of the village.
• Call of War- Sylvia while being someone who wishes to protect her people has always taken a perverse joy in battle. Not simply directing it, but she prefers the do it yourself approach. More than happy in the past even when she was a human she took up duels in single combat. Getting a certain joy out of letting her victims remember who it was that beat them. There have been times when she killed her enemies… and in those times Sylvia is also known for her vicious nature one that is has been made even worse sense she became a vampire.
• Screams of Men- One could call it torture for the purpose of it, but Sylvia doesn't see it that. Her daughters have to eat, and they deserve to be waited on hand and foot, so why not do what she can to provide them entertainment and service. So she has her villager make sure the young men that might wonder into and near her village disappear down into the deep dark places of her castle where they hang like meat on hooks.
The woman should find them worthy end up as thralls, that serve the grounds or give up the appearance that everything is all right. Guest must be taken care of and provided the highest quality of care, especially those whose meat looks so… tasty… and of high grade. These woman work until they are of no more use or give out, and then are transferred to be used as watchers in the many mountain passes… the area scattered with an undead minefield… where the ability to travel to is known only to the villagers themselves.
• Preservation of Cattle-All that she does is like a farmer carefully taking care of his herd, and making sure that they are safe. True she enjoys war, but works hard to avoid anything that might unnecessarily make food hard to find. This is especially the case given how she takes care of the people in the shadow below her castle and the cult they have built up around her.
Yes she will would do everything in her power to protect the villagers, but should anything happen, a famine perhaps… then she would have no choice, but to ask for sacrifices in order to make sure that she and her daughters were fed. Up until now this has never happened, and she is even willing to leave her castle herself to hunt for prey, but she hopes that it never does. That is why a big part of her political game is making sure there is enough food on her table.
Dislikes/Fears:
• Her Daughters Demise- The thing that scares Sylvia most is not so much her own death, but the thought of her own daughters dying before her. True she could just make more, but they would not be the same, the same girls whom she took into her fold and molded into the children she loves and adores. They are not just children, but symbols of own house's continuation, as well as making sure that her people will be cared for if something should happen to her.
So she takes great care in protecting them, while at the same time nurturing their development and free will. It is a balance and strangely enough an act at manipulation she plays every day, and she has worked too long and too hard to let some measly mortal come in and take all that away. There have been a few 'meals' that have had the fun ended early because they looked at the trio wrong.
• Unnecessary War- If there is nothing more frustrating than an unnecessary war, that could drag her village into an unnecessary carnage despite any contracts that have been made between her and Harrul. It means that Sylvia is very quick to voice her dislike of any war that isn't defensive, given power can be easily gained through other soft means. She has time to live so she isn't in a rush, and certainly doesn't want to risk her daughter's lives.
Yes she is willing to do what she must as is her obligation, but she prefers to keep things to a minimum. She feels that she already does her job as her realm is a bulwark against raiders and the strange things of the wilderness… which in her mind is not a bad take away, because of what you can find to play with… but regardless it effects both her people and the crop of travelers and meat that she can harvest.
• Interfering Outsiders- True there are not many people over the years who have come to Sylvia's village without doing so under the control of her web. The cult of her village guided them deeper into her lair until it was too late, but sadly the people who live in her shadow are always the smartest. They have messed up and allowed the wrong person to slip through the cracks instead of sending them away, or outright killing said threat in the village square as a sacrifice to her.
These people have always up until now been met with the full force of what lives within Castle Vestvinfol and the few that managed to resist, or worse make any headway, wished they had not dared to put Sylvia's wonderful daughter's in that kind of danger.
• Plans Gone Awry- Sylvia tends to have a anger issue when thing don't her way especially within a realm that she is supposed to control. This can cause her to be sloppy at best, or at work make a fatal error that might lead to her death or that of one of her daughters. As such she does not take failure well, especially from outside help… and it is a great way to end up on her dinner plate. The woman being quick to react badly should her well laid plans don't fall into place.
Strengths:
• The Village- Sylvia's castle looms over an isolate village not as beacon of fear, but something that keeps these isolate people safe. A group of people who gather in its shadow knowing its Mistress has dark secrets. In exchange for her protection, care, and the making sure they stay safe and have food, a sort of cult of personality has formed. The villagers will guide young men and woman up to the castle to their doom… each taking separate routes, but the end is the same. They also do what they can to keep anyone away… as better than any outsider they know the land all to well.
• Vampiric Strength- As a human Sylvia was always strong and a good fighter. She even defeated the one who would turn her before he himself was a vampire. Now that strength is only multiplied allowing her to channel that force in battle… as well as a method of entertainment. Not only is she able to use her large sword as a proverbial battering ram of force against her enemies, it is also something that can be used in hand to hand as well.
The transformation having given her natural weapons, such as claws that can she can use to tear through her enemies if her fist doesn't knock them down first. Claws that due to a mutation in Sylvia and her line, she can extend in and out of her body, which the female vampire loves to use to great effect both inside and outside of combat to make a point.
While it is true that Sylvia strength has been what she has taken confidence in… and her vampiric enhancements do help… she also knows that she is just one being. She can always be outnumbered by the mortals that surround her and so it better to outsmart the short-lived fools than beat them into submission… but every now and then… a girl has to have her fun.
• Hard To Kill- True before she became what she is today, Sylvia had a high tolerance for pain, but she simply considered that a necessary trait to survive on a battlefield. Among the night court it has become something more, not special to her perhaps, but an ability she is more than will to take advantage of. As in combat the ability to suddenly surprise your enemy that you are not as dead as they thought comes with quiet a few advantages, as well as being able to survive things that would kill a normal man.
Two of things being cold and sickness, however it seems that for Sylvia this depends on her location. The woman has never found herself very fond of the warm weather anymore since she turned into a vampire. The presence of it making her more and more susceptible to sickness and disease, however when she is in the cold... she always seems to be the picture of health. That includes the way she can walk the coldest temperature without a care in the world. As such is part of some of the rituals she preforms in front of her cult.
The other being weapons and blades she might come up against in fighting In the past she has actually tested a few of those exact things on herself. So that when the time came that someone did actually run her through… and not using the proper method… she would be able to react appropriately. As what good is the gift she has been granted if you can't look your enemy in the eye when they realize maybe they should have brought a different weapon. An example of this was a time in the past when the one human who ever got away from her castle, managed to leave Sylvia with a cut that when up one of her arms. Opening it in such a way that would have killed a normal human. However she managed to survive, with a scar, that has never fully healed even to this day.
• Warrior Queen- Sylvia has always been one to lead from the front with a 'if you want something done do it yourself' style of command. As such she is quick to accept duels to avoid battle and even fight them herself, and if that choices isn't available to her… then the woman will charge out with any troops she is leading into the fray. As not only does this make her feel more alive, and it is what she enjoys, she feels that this is where she can do the most good.
Now true as she has gotten older she does this less and less as the needs of being alive and taking care of her family ring true. Plus being on a battlefield and taking injuries that might give away what you are is not the best idea. Still she is always close and always watching when sounds of war hit her ears. The smell of fresh blood, and stench of death that waifs through the air after the dead are still and the wounded are left moaning in pain. It is a time to have pray brought to her… for whatever reason she deems necessary… and it is a time to entertain her sword arm once again.
- Strong Family- If there was one advantage that could be said that Sylvia has it is her strong family ties with her daughters. The three young woman have been well trained to fulfill different purposes. With Marie being a leader and well versed in many languages, the little girl can come off as both haunting and creepy, as well as silver tongued all at the same time. It is many times her that is the interrogating any prisoners that they need information from. People who usually by the end are left gibbering messes of human flesh.
The final one is Nora the diplomat, who at this time still has not been turned into a vampire, allowing her to get around various rules that her mother could not. Such as being invited into peoples homes or holy symbols… and she even works as the face of Sylvia's house. She does her job so well that the day she will be turned is actually viewed as a negative, but that doesn't mean that a fifth member can't be added to the little family on that day.
- Use of Magic- Sylvia's use of magic, while defensive as always been one of her strengths. True it is done through a ritualistic method that can be time consuming, as all magic is. However given what she is… she has plenty of time and can use her Necromancy rituals to slowly yet surly over the years build up the defenses of her people and the various mountain passes of her Barony. Anything that could be viewed as magic for the battlefield would be through the use of any weapons, as she doesn't see the need of replacing her own martial skill with complex rituals that serve no purpose on the field were warriors her fight. However getting her hands on a blade that isn't exactly what it appears to be… well… that is another matter.
Weaknesses:
• Forbiddance- The first of a few thing that Sylvia traded away when she became a vampire was the ability to enter into a home without the permission from someone who is an occupant. Once she has received it only a change in the owner of the dwelling will make it where she has to receive permission again. Over the years she has tried to use one of her daughters to get around this, as well as the fact she has been invited into every house in the village below her castle, but despite the annoyance of this weakness… it does possess its own… interesting game.
• Sunlight- The bane she has found of many who call themselves the night court, the fact that the sun will hurt her. Being in the shade can leave her body burning but allow her to survive if she should remain covered, but direct sunlight can be fatal. Sylvia is doubtful that if she were caught in the direct sunlight that she would be able to escape its gaze and hide away… no she would only be reduced to ash and swept away by the wind.
It is the reason that the few times she has ever been seen outside during the day was when there was minimum sun… even then the Baroness keeps her body completely covered if she can. The need to come out only night beyond that has never been a problem give that it is just a flipped schedule and when it comes to combat in her eyes… it allows for the advantage that surprise attacks in the dark can bring.
• Holy Objects/Silver- Things like holy object also became an anathema to her, causing the woman to avoid buildings such as churches where things might be displayed with reverence and care. What she has noticed is that it is not just the object, but the belief. Without the faith behind it, then such things are just piety objects, the only problem is that many mortals in the world do take deep stock in their faiths, but she has had a few fools wondering around whose belief failed them.
What she is also weak to is silver, and its presence in her system while it won't be fatal would act like a poison and slow her down to the point that it would be much easier for a mortal to take her on. So much so that she has purposefully worked a dislike of the metal into the cult that the villagers built up around her. In an attempt to get them to disarm anyone who might be carrying the stuff… otherwise it could be used against her to bring her down.
• Underestimate's Her Pray- There are times that Sylvia tends to underestimate her prey especially when she has them cornered right were she wants them in her Castle. This has become worse as she has gotten older, and she is further away from what she used to be. Forgetting what sort of strength that mortals gain from knowing they can die so easy, or even how ingenious they are when it comes to battling monsters.
Another part of this has to do with years of isolation which is only enhanced by the village who holds her up on a pedestal to worship. Keeping her and her daughters safe from harm from things at a distance. Too long she had fought on her own ground and on her own choosing. So with proper study, or by the proper lure… Sylvia has been warned many times it could be her downfall.
- A Bulwark and a Mother- Her very desire to protect her children and her people are both a source of strength and a weakness. There are not many things that the female vampire is willing to sacrifice herself for, but this is one of them. As such if someone was able to put her in the position that she had no choice but to fail… it is not to far of a stretch to say that she would see the light of the morning sun… just to know that her children and her people will continue to live.
- Bargains with her Home- Sylvia's land being where it position doesn't seem to have much, but it provides a defensive barrier, and that is her biggest political bargaining tool. The one thing she knows that she has that she provides. However the problem is that do so puts that which she cares about most in danger, and puts the woman a tight rope that she must walk when managing her Baronry. Especially as she doesn't want to send the people of her village out to risk themselves for that very defensive measure. She has her other means, but what if comes that those fail as well… what comes then…
Biography: I am too lazy to write this... you guys know this
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