Silver and Bone: Lucia Berkley

Name: Lucia Melody Berkley

Silvers: 3

Bones per Scene: 5 

Clan name: Versipellis

Status: Member

Clan Relationships:
                Versipellis: Allied
                Ulfhednar: Neutral
                Lycaon: Neutral
                Cinocephali: Neutral

Order name: None

Pack name: None

Werespecies: Wolf

Forms: Standard

Rage Form: Were

Age or DOB: Appears to be in her late twenties to early thirties. Born May 9.

Complexion: Faintly tan

Gender: Female

Eye color: Lucia was born with hereditary heterochromia of the eyes, which causes discoloration. Since she was born human this trait remained even after she became a werewolf. Her left eye is brown while her right eye is green, almost hazel.
(Transformed) Eye color: Left eye is dark, dark brown, almost obsidian. Right eye is bright green. Overall, the effect of the transformation intensifies the color of her eyes as a human, which could be described as dull compared to the color in this form.

Hair color/style: Dark Brown. Falls to the middle of her back. Naturally loose curls.
(Transformed)Fur/scale color/pattern: Dark brown fur over majority of the body, except for paws, snout, and tip of her tail, which are black.

Build: Slightly less than average in height. Relatively healthy weight of 133lbs. Fit, but not overly athletic.
(Transformed) Build: Same as human form, except slightly more athletic.

Height: 5’4”
(Transformed) Height: 5’8”


Personality:
    Through her transition from human to werewolf, Lucia maintained several traits she’d formed as a young human child. She was always motherly, due to a need of leadership and care for her siblings. She is still a very motherly type of person and seeing a being harmed or suffering truly affects her. Especially around children, Lucia is particularly careful and watchful. She remembers the horrors of her past and it makes her extremely cautious of her wolf side when she is around adolescents, both human and were-creature alike. In these cases, one might notice stiffness in her normally laid back personality. Also derived from her nature to care for others, Lucia is protective of those close to her. She seems almost unaffected by most harsh or irritating behavior when it is directed toward her, though she will of course defend herself if need be. However, if one threatens the safety of a person she truly cares about, her protectiveness often takes complete control of her mind. This trait is amplified strongly by her wolf side.

    Lucia is not standoffish in the slightest. Actually she is a rather easygoing individual. She isn’t the type to react submissively if another of her kind threatens her, though she isn’t overly aggressive either. Lucia doesn’t enjoy fighting at all, but if a situation calls for violence, she will do what has to be done. However, if faced with the choice to defend herself or defend a friend, she will without a doubt defend her friend(s) with an iron will. Her selflessness as a human was made stronger by the events of her first days as a werewolf. After seeing the destructive effect of her newfound strength and later learning from the Versi that this destructiveness could be controlled, Lucia strived to create some sense of balance in her life by helping those around her.

    During her first several years as a werewolf, Lucia was utterly uncomfortable with what she had become. She attempted suppressing that side of herself, shoving it to the farthest corners of her mind until the wolf in her had to tear control away from Lucia altogether, making the transformations much more painful for herself and deadly for anyone in close distance. However, since meeting and joining the Versipellis Clan, Lucia has learned that accepting that side of her is the true method to finding peace.

    In the years that have passed since learning many lessons from the Versi, Lucia and her wolf side have come to better understand each other. She remains wary of that part of herself, especially in certain situations, but she no longer suppresses it and she isn’t ashamed that she is a werewolf. Lucia regrets her past for the bloodshed that ruined her past life. Yet, she does not blame the wolf within her. Instead, she blames her human counterpart. Looking back, she realizes that her decisions were the product of fear and lack of knowledge. At the time she had no idea what was happening and there was no one around to explain or to give her advice. Even with the knowledge that she didn’t know any better and the accident was merely that, an accident, Lucia still blames herself for the death of her mother and siblings.

Background:
    Born as the product of immature love, Lucia Berkley was the first of five children. Her parents, Catherine and Jonathan, met and supposedly fell madly in love when they were practically kids themselves. Catherine became pregnant when she was seventeen and little Lucia was born only a month after her mother’s eighteenth birthday.

    Shunned by their families for partaking in such intimate acts before marriage, Jonathan and Catherine struck out on their own, claiming their love for each other would somehow carry them through life. They were married after leaving their hometown, since no priest would dare risk his reputation by marrying a young couple who had already birthed a child. They moved on to Washington State, where Jonathan managed to get a job.

    For a couple years afterward, life continued in blissful mundaneness. The family was below middle class in terms of economic status, but they were content. Catherine gave birth to another child, a boy named Issac. Even at the young age of five, Lucia immediately took on the role of the guiding older sibling. She stayed by her younger brother’s side, ran to him when he cried, entertained him when he wanted attention. Only two years later, the twins arrived, Henry and Ivy. Lucia continued to care for her younger siblings, looking after them while the adults dealt with reality, which was quickly swallowing up their happiness.

    Shortly after the twins were born, Jonathan lost his job due to cut backs in the work place. The family began to live on Catherine’s miniscule salary mending fabric and making clothes for neighbors while Jonathan searched diligently for employment elsewhere. It was difficult, but weeks later, he found work with a lumber company. Unfortunately he worked long hours and was sometimes called away to the job site in the forests to help the rest of the crew.

    Unknown to the rest of the family, Catherine had picked up a serious set of bad habits from a few friends at work. She began drinking excessive amounts of alcohol. One evening, Jonathan arrived home to find that he’d been completely blind to his wife’s new behavior. She was unconscious on the floor in their bedroom, bottle of strong liquor in hand. However, he didn’t turn away from her. When she woke Jonathan professed his love for her yet again and promised to help Catherine stabilize herself.  

    Throughout this trying time, Lucia kept order among her brothers and sisters. She became a little mother for them without question and cared for her siblings when her parents could not. For a while, things began to improve. Catherine weaned herself off of the addictions and she forced herself to keep busy so she would not turn to alcohol as a means of relief from life’s troubles. Once again, she became pregnant, this time with the last addition in the Berkley family, Madeline.

    Catherine somehow managed to remain clean of alcohol through her pregnancy with Madeline, but soon after the child’s birth, tragedy struck the family. Jonathan was killed in a logging accident at work. Catherine lost her will to stay upright and fell into her old habits again, this time with much higher consequences. It seemed she forgot about her children completely. Lucia, who was merely twelve at the time, all but raised Madeline, and began to take responsibility for the other three kids as well.

    Life continued this way for years after with the Berkley family barely surviving from day to day. Catherine only worked to support her growing need for alcohol and any money spent on food was hardly enough to support a family of six. One day Catherine brought home a mysterious man – Declan. He frequented the house, expressing a great interest in Catherine and her family, almost as if their poor living situation fascinated him. Lucia was sixteen by this time. It had been four years since her father’s death and she was not entirely open to the idea of another man posing as her father. However, she foolishly hoped that somehow this new relationship would help her mother.

    Unfortunately, Catherine’s new lover was not easy to get along with. In a fit of irritation, Lucia lashed out one day, yelling at her mother and this strange man who had barged into their family. Her challenge toward Declan’s authority revealed the inner beast hidden beyond the surface; he was a werewolf. Lucia was bitten in the process and injured, but somehow spared. Thankfully the younger children were not nearby to witness the gruesome scene. Declan disappeared as quickly as he had appeared and Lucia never saw him again.

    Only days later, she realized he had transferred the beast to her. Lucia transformed into a werewolf in the middle of an argument with her mother, who blamed her daughter for the disappearance of Declan, and in the blindness of her rage and the pain of the first transformation Lucia killed the woman. When she finally came to and realized what she had done, Lucia felt as if the world had crashed down around her. She would’ve left, broken by the shame, but now there was no one else to care for her siblings. They had no idea what had truly happened and Lucia could never tell them the truth. She stayed after weaving a lie that Catherine had left them entirely, which was believable since by this point she wasn’t involved regularly in the children’s lives. Lucia lived the next few weeks in utter terror and sickening guilt, all the while fighting against the beast within. She became nervous and anxious with pent up energy, startled by the simplest of things. Her brothers and sisters noticed a difference in her behavior, but of course they knew nothing of what she truly was or what had taken place days before.

    Little did the young girl know, she was suppressing the wolf in all the wrong ways and ultimately it made the situation worse when the wolf broke free from Lucia’s feeble mental prison. The end result was not only bloody, but heartbreaking. Lucia had killed three of her siblings. Somehow Madeline survived the brutal outburst, but Lucia knew that would not last if the little girl remained in her older sister’s presence.

    So, Lucia took Madeline to the nearest orphanage. Then she ran as far and as fast as she possibly could. During this time, Lucia lived erratically with fear being the basis behind all of her actions. She had no idea what was happening to her or exactly why. Others with less than human traits such as her own kind stumbled upon her existence.  Most were unfriendly and Lucia often ended up losing control due to either strong fear, triggered rage, suppressed hunger or a combination of the three. She received several scars from harsh injuries, but since she didn’t stay in one place for any significant amount of time she managed to escape any life threatening damage.

    Lucia ended up in Chambury, though she does not recall how. A few wolves belonging to the Versipellis Clan found her emaciated and nearly out of her mind with grief for what she had done. Thankfully, they took Lucia in and with time they began to coax her out of the shell she’d shut herself in by teaching her how to healthily handle her other side. She’s been with them for years now. Even to this day, Lucia is still sensitive about the subject of her past and to relive the terror often results in slight loss of control of her wolf side.


Random Facts:

-Lucia has only recently begun really helping others of her kind who seek help learning to accept and manage their wolf side, which was a big step for her because she wasn’t exactly stable until only a few years ago. She is compassionate, as are most Versipellis, and she wants to help others like the Versi wolves helped her. She knows from experience that it can be difficult to find harmony with the wolf.

-Madeline is the only person in Lucia’s family that survived. However, Lucia didn’t look back after she left home. She doesn’t know what happened to Madeline after the orphanage took her in, but Lucia believes she was protecting her baby sister by sheltering her from the tragedies of their family.

-When feeling particularly unstable, Lucia sometimes resorts to separating herself from the group to meditate. She picked this up from the advice of the Versi when they first took her in.

-Lucia is mildly claustrophobic.

-Strongly dislikes any type of weather storm (especially thunderstorms).

-Works as a waitress at Bill's Tavern.


Abilities:

   Human:
          Tact (Rank 1)
          Awareness

  Were:
          At-Will Shifting (Rank 2)
          Regeneration (Rank 1)
          Call It Back (Rank 1)

  Clan:
        Lycanthrope's Call (Rank 1)
        Protective Rage (Rank 1)



Character Use: Please do not kill or permanently maim Lucia during RPs or challenges. She may be used in art/writing challenges depending on the intention of the artist/writer, but please ask first so I know what you're planning and familiarize yourself with her personality. Thank you.

Descriptions for alternate forms: None at the present