Name: Lady Maria of the Workshop Hunters
Gender or Sex: Female
Age: 27
Class: Hunter
Personality:A fanatical Hunter for the Workshop, her duty and skill is only matched by her quiet, kind demeanor. While a strict leader over her men, she is a nurturing soul to the people of Yharnam. A follower of the Healing Church, she is devout even though her proximity to the inner workings of the church has left her slightly jaded. Loyal to her peers and a true friend to all, her serious attitude hides a more sensitive side; however, that will not prevent her from asserting her ideas or thoughts into the conversation.
She carries herself high, and from initial appearance would almost seem as if she holds herself high above the rest. This is not the case, her demeanor is one carefully curtailed during her childhood as a Noble of Cainhurst; even years later, the teachings are still ingrained into her head.
Backstory: Born to a prestigious Cainhurst Noble Family during the tumultuous Independence Wars, Maria grew up in a sheltered and decadent lifestyle. The feudal family often inter-married with Royalty, leading Maria to be childhood friends with many Prince and Princesses. Even after the end of the war and Yharnam Independence secured, economic elites from both nations would often intermingle for their own benefit. Maria's early life was full of Illustrious Galas and Fantastical Balls; the young beauty was expected to keep up appearances and after her first Menarche, was expected to marry some far off Noblemen from Kataryna. However, even as a child she demonstrated a curious disposition, the handmaidens would often find her roaming the Castle or venturing outside to the Commoner's Housing. Her first introduction of combat came from watching the Sparring Sessions between Knights; wielding their Blood Blades, their dexterity and skill left a great impression on the young Heiress.
While her Farther sought to keep her relatively uneducated, for he saw the value of women in their ability to raise a child, her mother would often send for tutors and scholars that educated the Young Maria on the state of Nature and Life. From Archaeology to Biology to Mathematics, she excelled in most areas of study; however it was the arrival of one scholar from Byrgenwerth would set her on a new path. An student of Laurence rather than Willem, the Scholar would often pepper the teachings with quasi-religious teachings and folklore, painting the Great Ones as more Gods than literal Beings. As the Healing Church's dogma reached the castle, her parents dismissed them as mere myth, while Maria would soon become a secret acolyte of the Faith.
Years of poor harvests and bad investments had left her Father a shell of his former self, an older brother to a much more successful counterpart. As his Brother leveraged to take the Family Home for him, plots and enemies were everywhere in his mind. Disagreements about the education of Maria, as well as her Father's many secret night outings, had eroded the relationship between her parents. Her Mother and her Father were rarely seen in the same room, and Maria was forced to contend with both; all the while expected to keep up appearances. Reaching the age of 12, Maria began to spend greater and greater time with the Commoners, specifically an Old Knight who had taken retirement outside of her castle. This was the first time that Maria used the Chikage and discovered the true extent of her Blood's abilities; the Old Knight took the impressionable young teenager under his tutelage. As a close relative of Cainhurst Nobility, the inherent power of her blood magic was much greater than the average knight. Although training was difficult, Maria excelled; while she lacked the pure strength of her male counterpart, she demonstrated success in her dexterity and skill aptitude. By the time she turned 16, she would often fight and win against the most dangerous of Blood Knights.
However her Father's isolation in his room was soon to end. With word of his debts defaulting and his brother recent travel to Cainhurst, her Father soon began taking out his anger against anyone in his way. Having the same inherent abilities as Maria, but lacking training, he would often blatantly kill servants and serfs as a way to demonstrate his diminishing power. Maria and her mother would often recoil in fear as he walked through the halls, while he did not use his powers against them, he found other ways to torment them. The depravity of those sessions still haunt Maria; his demonstration of his blood abilities against the serfs did away with Maria's previous notions of chivalry and civility. When first taught the powers of Blood Magic, she imagined Knights in Shining Armor protecting the innocent. However, the reckless abuse and depravity he forced on her, her mother, and their servants destroyed her once child like imagination; these knights sworn to protect the innocent watched as their Lord Paramount hurt the innocent, and they did nothing. They stood there, as silent as ever.
What happened next is still a blur to Maria, loose images and actions can still be pieced together, but she doesn't much try to remember. What she does remember is her Father hurting her Mother, and her Chikage in her hand. Beyond that, its too painful to think about. After everything was said and done, she was the only one who left that room; she swore off Blood Blades and her Chikage, her power will come from skill, not her inherited traits. She ventured to her room and collected her necessities for the journey, then she went to the armory and retrieved a Rakuyo. This weapon didn't need blood to use. She could of stayed, maybe the Knights would understand, but she felt so sick of that place that she had no desire to stay.
Venturing south to Yharnam by foot, she wished to join the Church. Maybe she would take the Black and live out the rest of her days at a Monastery, although she feared she would be rejected because of what she had lost. However, it would be an encounter at an Inn of the Crossroads that changed everything; arriving there, she found the Inn eerily quiet. Entering the establishment she found the candles still burning but three bodies littered across the floor; smashed alcohol bottles, pistols, and swords covered the wooden boards. Seeking to investigate further, the quiet was interrupted by hushed and coarse breathing; a man sat at the edge of the room wrapped in bandages as if too hide himself. Brandishing her Rakuyo, the man turned around to reveal early signs of lycanthropy with fur jutting out of the wraps and his long stretched out limbs. He quickly pounced and demonstrated his impressive strength and speed, throwing her across the room. Even though she was armed, he was just too strong as he easily broke her left arm. Emptying her Evelyn into his Chest, he barely flinched. She could use her blood abilities, but she vowed never to do that. As he approached ever slowly, she stood up and composed herself, then attacked. With impressive ferocity for an ordinary human, she demonstrated impressive technique that prevented the monster from taking the momentum. In less than a minute she held her head high, while his head rolled across the floor. It wasn't until after the fight she noticed another man standing there with a scythe and grin on his face.
Gehrman took in the young woman, and taught her everything he knew. She was his first protege and true friend, and over the last ten years they have stayed by their sides as they trained dozens of new Hunters. From Ludwig to Logarius, each hunter would see themselves as students of hers. While Gehrman and others wished for more, as all men do with pretty girls, the scares from her past blinds her from their advances. When going through the Blood Ministration Ritual, many with in the Church wished to see how her innate blood abilities would combine with the ritual, yet she never tested it. Hunters must stay away from desires of death and power; for that is how they keep their humanity. Maria teaches her hunters the necessities of speed and restraint, and utilizes Cainhurst techniques to demonstrate how to hide in the shadows. While many within the Church hierarchy criticize her for her for either her uncleanliness, her background, or both; she ignores them, she is loyal to the gods, not man.
Attributes.
Quickening: a practitioner of the art of Quickening, a technique particular to the first hunters. Through this technique she pioneered, she is able to quickstep much quicker than most hunters, even faster than our eyes perception.
Daughter of Cainhurst: Born into an illustrious family of Cainhurst Nobility, she has a great insight into the inner workings of politics and civility within the region.
Equipment:
Rakuyo, Evelyn, Maria's Hunters Outfit
Since I accept myself, what do you guys think?
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