" Perhaps in another world , and in another time , things would have turned out differently. But in this world, I shall be having your head. "
Nicknames and Aliases: The Headsman's Pride by those who are warily respectful of her, and the King's Pet Psychopath by everyone else. (Behind her back of course. ) and Cat by the few who are close to her.
Blessed or Ordinary: Ordinary
Role: The current leader of WCU6 and the Third Civilian Child.
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Eye Color: Light brown
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 135 pounds
Tattoos.
The Seal of the late-King Leonodas across her back, and her family crest on her palm.
Piercings
None
Scars
A thin line across her throat
Oddities: No matter the circumstance, she always wears a leather glove over her right hand. It doesn't matter if she's showering or in combat, but it would seem that she never removes it, and becomes emotional/and or violent if you do. Sometimes talks with herself in order to work out a situation.
{ Loyal , Pragmatic , Bigoted , Sympathetic }
Caterina is a feared name in some circles, but begrudgingly respected or mocked for her loyalty. There are few in the realm as loyal as she is to the Throne. Any wish of the King is literally her command, no matter how trivial or unwholesome. Her loyalty extends to the rest of the Kingdom and the lords as well as it is what she believes she has been raised to serve and fight for. While she might ignore someone of equal status, as far as she is concerned, the word of the King and the Lords are the words of a divine being. She is even loyal to a fault, looking past the flaws of the people she serves and allowing innocents to suffer because of her deep conviction that the King and the Lords are doing what is best for all those who live in Tilt. Questions not related to the task at hand will rarely be asked, and results will be delivered, making her the favorite of those who served the King. Even with the passing of the King her loyalty still runs deep as she fulfills his orders and doesn't take a personal part in the current power struggle rocking Tilt.
However, serving under the Lords and King of Tilt have brought about bigotry within Caterina. She has been taught that the Faes and Blessed Children are monsters and responsible for many atrocities, including the one against her. Now she has little compunction to spare or treat Blessed Children with kindness that some of the more sympathetic Lords might. Out in the public, Caterina treats Blessed Children as third rate humans at best, monsters at worst.
While she is loyal to a fault, she still has a degree of pragmatism outside of orders from the highest authority. She is willing to bend the word of the law, if not the spirit. If there is a method that will give the best or better results with far less cost, then she will definitely choose that option. It is because of this she does her best to keep her personal beliefs out of WCU6, being tolerant of the Blessed Children's within the unit. Although she would rather not work so closely with them, it is her orders and it would make the combat effectiveness higher so she allows their presence and at least tries to make them feel tolerated.
Towards non-Blessed Children, Caterina provides sympathy and a shoulder to rest on. Even years of hunting and killing have failed to completely render her inhuman. She is able to help counsel others and listen to them for as long as needed. It causes her some pain to see others suffering without others to help them. Of course, this doesn't apply to the Blessed Children unless they are able to prove her long held views wrong.
Hobbies:
Archery - Although not skilled enough to use it as her primary weapon in the art of war, she still enjoys the ability to concentrate on a target without it trying to kill you. It gives her a sense of peace and time to think during bouts of down time.
Falconry - When possible, she enjoys taking her pet falcon out for hunts in the wilderness.
Cooking- A more personal pleasure, she enjoys cooking dishes and trying out new recipes, but would never dare be caught doing it.
Habits:
Playing with her hair- When nervous or even just idle, Caterina has a habit of stroking her hair and playing with it.
Tea Time- Unless it is impossible, Caterina finds the time to make tea and drink it at the same time of the day every day.
Cleaning her scythe- She has a tendency to always be maintaining her scythe when possible. It is harder for others to talk to her when their attention is focused on a very sharp scythe in front of their faces.
Likes/Loves:
- Tea - There is nothing like a good cup of tea during downtime and celebrations.
- Birds of Prey - One of the few species of animals that do not seem to mind a perceived stench of blood around her.
- The Royal Family - A loyal servant to the Royal Family even with the death of the King. In the political fallout of the King's death, she attempted to maintain order among the Lords jockeying for power. She does not sit well with those who insult and disparage the late King and the royalty in general.
- Running - Running provides her with some time alone and allows her to relieve some stress.
- Salty Foods - She is especially partial to food cheese incorporated in it, and enjoys other salty dishes as well. It can be a start to breaking the ice or making peace with her.
- Sour Foods - Sour foods such as tarts and citruses are also favorites of her; she prefers to eat these as desserts instead of the sweets most people prefer.
- Magic - While Caterina dislikes the Faes and Children, she can't help but be intrigued by the magic that they possess. This was the magic that allowed humanity to prosper and become powerful; she is even secretly envious of the special powers the Children were bestowed.
- Rain and Snow - The grey over cast skies that come with the rain and snow have also always soothed her as she believes it is a sign of renewal .
Dislikes/Hates:
- Strategy Planning - It has always been a pain for Caterina to have to form any complex plans. It goes against her nature to just do what is most effective and fastest to her. If possible, she likes to push off the job to someone smarter than her, or at least more apt at planning strategies.
- Faes - She is under the belief that Faes were responsible for some part in her families death, and that their existence is a continued threat to the stability of the Kingdom.
- The Blessed Children - Although secretly envious of the Blessed Children, she has a grudge against some Blessed Children's family for almost killing her in the past. Envy and vindictiveness have combined into a sort of discriminatory behavior she has towards the Children.
- Sweets - Sweets have never agreed with her digestive system, so she tends to avoid them if possible.
- Anti-Authoritarianism - Those who rebel against the powers that be and seek to upset the status quo are the ones that Caterina would gladly execute without needing any orders to do so. She believes that there is a set power structure and hierarchy that must be followed.
- Humidity - The more humid the air, the more tired and irritable she gets, which puts her in a tricky situation with her love of the rain.
- Laziness - Those who idle around and don't feel motivated to do work are also the type of people she dislikes. She generally attempts to punish them in some way for being a waste of resources.
Strengths:
- Leading the Charge - Caterina doesn't expect those who serve under her to take any action that she wouldn't take her self. Thus she has always prided herself in being able to smash through defenses and inspire others to follow her example. Even outside of combat she attempts to set an example, although this doesn't always go as well.
- Impromptu Decision Making Although she trusts the overall strategy to others more able than her, years of experience in combat have allowed Caterina to develop a sort of honed instinct when it comes to making split second decisions. She is able to take in the current information at hand and quickly make a decision she knows she can't regret based off of it.
- Mid Range Combat Her favored form of fighting is at a range, but close enough that she can personally see to it that her enemy is dead. The scythe fits this compromise perfectly, allowing her to keep an opponent at range and dictate the distance of the engagement, but not too far that she can be spared the guilt and sensation of taking another's life. A long time of honing her skills with the scythe has allowed her to dominate almost all opponents at a mid range since many weapon experts are generally close combat or long range practitioners.
- Politicking Being brought up around the Royal Court, Caterina is able to negotiate her way through most troubles that aren't too large. She can settle most arguments without violence and negotiate settlements with others. This has translated to success within the overall army and moderately successful with the Lords fighting for power, but it has yet to be seen if she can bring WCU 6 together.
Weaknesses:
- Strategy - While Caterina's decision making on the spot is considered effective, her actual ability to plan an engagemnet or even long term plans is lacking. She finds it difficult to grasp the grand scheme of things and see the big picture, preferring to make things up as she goes along in small portions. This can easily hinder the WCU6 combat ability unless there are those who can make up for this lack of strategy.
- Adherence to the Order The same loyalty that is able to inspire respect from some is also a hindrance to others. Having been raised to respect the status quo, it is difficult for her to go against the general spirit and idea of both orders she is given, but also go against the established system the King and Lords have put into place, including the social stratification. This means that the ability to make effective plans can be constrained, and even ignoring a clearly suicidal order from a noble can be difficult.
- Close Range Combat If someone as equally skilled or more skilled in close range fighting as she is in her scythe, then she will have problems. Those who are able to respond or get rid of her range dictation will be able to come out on top as she depends heavily on that to win a fight.
- Mental Trauma Most of the time, Caterina doesn't show or even remember some of the horrors of her past, but sometimes they are triggered. During these crisis, she shuts the world around her out and begins to regress into a young child. It takes either a very skilled healer or time to allow her to recover.
Caterina doesn't remember much of her early childhood, either for the lack of anything important or repressing her own memories. She does remember that she was born in a family that was famous for its mercenary work and general weapons craft. When she was older, her presumed father and brothers took her along with them on contracts in order to ease her into the life style. It didn't agree with her, but she went along with it anyways. When King Leonodas decided to purge the Faes, her family was contracted to hunt them down. It was on one of these hunts that she remembers the supposed "peace loving" Faes struck down someone in her family and started the seed of revenge and hatred for the Faes. However, the hunts for the Faes went otherwise successfully for her family and they returned wealthy and semi-influential in Tilt, to the resentment of some of the established families. It was said that her family was about to buy its way into nobility. In the interim years of the fall of the Fae, her families fortunes grew even more, seeming to confirm the rumors. Then the decree of the King came down to hunt for the Blessed Children who had been recovered. Although she doesn't remember it for whatever reason, her family did not sit well with hunting children and voiced their concerns to the King and Lord. A final, sizable contract that promised Lordship was established and her family took part int he hunt for the Fae-touched Children.
Her next earliest memory is of them finding a child in a wealthy family who attempted to hold onto their child. Many were killed int he fight as the parents and their own hired mercenaries fought her family. In the chaos, magic was supposedly thrown around, killing her father and what seemed to be blade magic slashed her throat open. As she laid on the floor bleeding out, a brilliant light seemed to shine and the King and his own personal guard stepped in to secure the child. A blessed child already under the control of the king healed her as the King surveyed the carnage. Then the next thing she knew, she woke up in the castle of the King and was offered a chance to become the Kings servant and exact revenge against the Fae, the Blessed Children, and all those who desired to bring chaos to the world. Casting aside her old name, she assumed her current name and began a grueling education that included education on part with Lord's children and also the arts of war. With time, she was apprenticed and officially adopted by the Headman of the King to make her presence more normal at the Court. In time she was conditioned and trained to kill without needing to think too much, starting with the prisoners who had been consigned to death.
In time, she became very proficient at these executions, and some prisoners began to fear her, yet respect her and come to view her as a small mercy. Unlike her "father" and other executioners, she was always very clean and honest in her executions; no bribes were required to make sure her method was relatively painless and clean. Her career also led her into being awarded with a scythe forged by the King's personal blacksmith, in part of a reference to her more humble beginnings and as a symbol of death. She named it "Alicia" and has become proficient in killing with it, to a startling degree. She continued to serve the King in both her official duties and unoffical duties of "cleaning house" for him and became ever more loyal to him. Throughout the time she had been serving him, she had never known her was dying, and was very taken aback when he finally passed on, leaving the kingdom to the lords. Those who eventually came away from the power struggle decided she was too dangerous to keep int he court and conspired to kill her, but were eventually forced to to compromise with her own political allies to sending her to head a unit formed to deal with rebellion. Both sides won; she was able to put down a rebellion, and the lords thought she'd probably die doing it.
These are her own memories however, and after her near death experience, some of the more competent doctors have speculated she has made up memories or repressed others. It is for certain however, of her loyalty to the King and her skill that earned her the moniker of the " Headman's Pride."
Face Claim: Zuikaku of Kantai Collection