Achates Thuranni
Achates is a shy young half-elf woman who grew up with a mysterious father and an even more mysterious beginning. She works for a shadow element of the Monster Slayers Academy. Her father pulled and orchestrated her every move until he suddenly disappeared leaving her to fend for herself. With a heavy background in martial arts & survival, the young woman remained alive and eventually took her place in the small enclave of the Monster Slayers her Father controlled.
Appearance
Compared to most elves, Achates is slightly shorter, along with shorter ears which are still pointed into the fine tip common with elves, her frame lithe but she’s obviously part human. Bright red eyes contrast with her dark long hair. She wears an ornate earring around the tip of her right ear. On her shoulder, there was a faint scar of what looks like a large canine bite mark.
Skills and Abilities
Magic: Magic abilities ran in her mother's family, Achates wasn't much to mess with magic, but she knows if she probably put some effort into it she could learn something. It didn't interest her much, but she learned about what magic was and what it could do. It was for her safety.
Survival: Achates grew up with her father who was a monster hunter and a ranger. He taught his daughter how to track animals & other humanoids. He taught her all the necessary skills to survive in the wilderness and any extreme environment. Her training made her sharp and sensitive to the slightest changes in her environment.
Lycanthropy: From a young age, Achates couldn't remember a time when she didn't have a difficult transformation. A night she would have brief images flash in her mind about the night when her father and his friends, help awaken what she truly was. Because she's had it for most of her life, she learned to control it the best she could. The unusual strain of Lycanthropy she inherited from her father's bloodline is unable to be passed along through bites, saliva, and other body fluids. It can only be passed on through genetics; for example, her offspring.
Weapons & Martial Arts: Her weapon choices are usually short swords, daggers, and rapiers. She's extremely dangerous in melee. She was also trained in range weaponry, preferring the hand crossbow above all. The woman is quick to draw and fire when necessary.
Survival: Achates grew up with her father who was a monster hunter and a ranger. He taught his daughter how to track animals & other humanoids. He taught her all the necessary skills to survive in the wilderness and any extreme environment. Her training made her sharp and sensitive to the slightest changes in her environment.
Lycanthropy: From a young age, Achates couldn't remember a time when she didn't have a difficult transformation. A night she would have brief images flash in her mind about the night when her father and his friends, help awaken what she truly was. Because she's had it for most of her life, she learned to control it the best she could. The unusual strain of Lycanthropy she inherited from her father's bloodline is unable to be passed along through bites, saliva, and other body fluids. It can only be passed on through genetics; for example, her offspring.
Weapons & Martial Arts: Her weapon choices are usually short swords, daggers, and rapiers. She's extremely dangerous in melee. She was also trained in range weaponry, preferring the hand crossbow above all. The woman is quick to draw and fire when necessary.
Personality
The young half-elf lives up to her race's charismatic reputation. She is easy to get along with and enjoys light conversations. Despite her friendliness, it is apparent the woman is hiding a dark secret. She curiously wants to get to know her companions, but rarely reveals any truths about her. Keeping in good nature, she tends to avoid any conversation that pokes at 'getting to know her better.'
In combat she's loyal to those that can watch her back, her trust despite this loyalty is hard to find. As long as her companions prove to be able to carry their weight, Achates trusts enough. Typically preferring to be alone, she does have the desire to be around people. Something holds her back from fully flourishing socially, but there is an odd understanding of her role in this world.
Also, she really dislikes cilantro, tastes like soap.
Biography & Lore
Memories from the past only linger briefly in the half elf’s mind. At times she wonders if her memories had been altered or if she was forced to forget something so horrible – almost her entire childhood before the age of eight, gone. Growing up, she only knew of one person – her caretaker and her life, her father Nathanial Thuranni. The pair wandered the forests coming from a place no one talked about anymore. They arrived in Alliria in the dead of night, upon arriving they had a place to stay, food and her father had work. There was a feeling that they had lived there their entire lives as if the next morning was just another day & not the first.
Nathanial knew people, they were people he worked with. He was a slayer and a hunter, but his prey wasn’t of the typical kind. He hunted monsters and creatures that only appeared in storybooks. Unlike Monster Slayers at the academy, Nathanial held a dark secret. It was a secret that his own daughter Achates would have to live with as well.
Coming from a long line of slayers, Nathanial and his kin were all born with Lycanthropy. It was a trait that they cherish, it gave them equal footing against monsters. Every single member of the Thuranni family became assassins of these monsters forming a small enclave that they used their gift of Lycanthropy to thrive. Breeding was matched, love wasn’t a concept for marriage and children for them. Partners were chosen to ensure that the next generation of pups would be stronger than the last.
Yet, because of love, Nathaniel refused to follow any direction. He had already fallen for an elven woman he had come across on a hunt. She had been cornered by a large wolf-like creature with a jaw full of razor-sharp fangs and a thirst for blood. Straying off his mission, he interfered and fought against the monster. Almost killing him, he eventually slew the beast and was taken in by the elven woman. Nathaniel spent years with her, soon falling in love and having a child.
Thinking he would live out his days with his child and new wife, he forgot about his family and their work. It would only be for a short time; his wife suddenly had gone missing and the elven people were looking at the stranger to blame. Packing up Achates, Nathanial made contact with his father and kin. Arrangements were made and they arrived in Alliria.
Achates grew quickly and Nathanial soon realized that the gene that made her a Thuranni didn’t skip her. A part of him had hoped the half-elven child would gain more of her mother’s traits than his, especially the one that would torment her. More and more her latent genes would echo in her youth and more and more Nathanial was diving deeply into his old ways. Soon taking over the small group, he was now the alpha – power took over his mind, helping him forget the devastation he felt from losing the calm life he had sought to find.
It was time to draw out the sleeping wolf that resided in his young daughter. Because of her half breed status, the Lycanthropy was held at bay.
Pushing Achates through years of training and working her survival instincts. The ultimate test came when she was 14 years old. Bringing the girl to the meeting place of the others of the Order. Several of the girl’s kin stood by and suddenly changed quickly into large beasts. Snarls and growls snapped at the young girl and she watched with a small dagger as her only means of defense. In her mind, she was meant to defend against the attacks of the werewolves, but the real reason was to wake up the beast inside of her.
The attacks were ruthless as they charged forward, snapping and biting at the girl. She fully defended against them, rolling and kicking off the large wolves. Achates was faster than they had assumed, and she had taken her training seriously. Her father impressed soon joined the attack. She didn’t see him come from her right flank as she was busy pushing off her uncle’s large brown wolfen form. As she pushed him off, she dragged the dagger across his muzzle.
Suddenly, she paused and felt the iron hot pain surge through her collar as blood ran down her frame. It was what she needed, that sudden fear that she could possibly perish. As the large black wolf released the girl leaving her to bleed out, the other wolves backed off and watched – waiting. As she knelt and waited for death, she suddenly felt something warm grow in her stomach. That feeling grew and her muscles and bones began to stretch. Her first transformation burned as she screamed. Suddenly, the girl became a shaggy grey wolf with garnet eyes. Her size was near the size of her father’s and the man in the beast became proud and saw the animal he had created.
Lunging forward, Achates tore through the others that had attacked her. It didn’t take long, but she suddenly couldn’t control the transformation and became a mess of a 14 yr. old girl again. She healed quickly and a few days later she awoke and soon she as dragged into the bloody world of monster slaying. Achates became strong enough to start venturing on her own and her father became more involved in the darker side of his group. This was a side she never was able to see, now she wanted to figure out what her father was getting into, feeling that he was getting into something he can never come back to.