Karolina Douglas - completedPlayer's Name: Chelsea E-Mail: cdinsmore@sympatico.ca Other means of Contact: ezinbox or a message on the board is preferable, I sign into MSN rarely but can do so if someone asks me specifically to do so because they want to talk about something. chosen_destiny55@hotmail.com is the MSN address.
Name: Karolina Douglas Nickname: Kari, sometimes Karo or slayer Code Name: none Affiliation: currently unaffiliated, fights against vampires Gender: Female Age: 18 Birthday: April 11th Hair: long, blonde and straight, it usually falls a few inches below her shoulder and she wears it down. Eyes: brown Height: 5"4 Weight: she's slim and has the slender grace of many natural slayers
Mother: Maureen Sherry-Douglas - made up - deceased Father: Robert Douglas - made up - deceased
Other Important Relatives/People in their lives:
Kevin Douglas - Paternal Uncle - made up - alive
After the death of her parents Kevin took guardianship of Karolina until she reached adulthood but he used his guardianship of her to further his own purposes.
Rory Brennan - friend - made up- alive
Karolina finds the one person who understands what she's been through in Rory, who the same group attempted to force into the slayer mould.
Physical Description:
Although she was never destined to be a slayer, Karolina has many of the attributes the girls who came before her seem to have shared. At 5"4 she's on the border between petite and average height but looks even smaller when standing next to her now constant companion, the lanky Rory. With a slender form and a small chest she further fits the slayer mould. Ancestors from the British isles have given her pale skin that burns rather than tans and her hair, once naturally blonde, has been dyed back to the shade it was in childhood. Karolina wears her locks long and straight and pulls them back into a casual ponytail only when slaying.
Her brown eyes are nothing out of the ordinary and are brought out by darker arching eyebrows, carefully tweezed. Karolina's style is first and foremost about comfort and she's not the type to wear heels just for show although she doesn't mind the extra height they give her. More often than not she can be seen, weather permitting, in a long tank top and a pair of fitted jeans. If she's spending a night in she sticks to a pair of sweats. The one constant about her appearance is a gold chain that holds a heart shaped locket. This was given to Karolina by her mother on her tenth birthday and has a picture of mother and daughter inside and is something she treasures.
Karolina wears enough makeup to accentuate her natural beauty and won't leave the house without her lip gloss but likes to try for a natural look. Her voice is neither low nor high pitched and she has an American accent or lack thereof depending on who hears her speak. What Karolina does have is a security of self and quiet confidence that catches the eye as well as a fetching smile. One might also notice the grace of her movement, which seems to have become more graceful since the incident in which she recieved her unwanted powers. The one thing Karolina doesn't have is perfume. She has a sensitive nose and hates the stuff but she does have a love of anything and everything spearmint in flavour and gum or mints might give her a minty scent.
Celeb: Alona Tal
Powers:
Karolina is a slayer, albeit not a natural one. She was created as a result of an attempt to infuse the essence of a demon into a human girl just as the shadowmen had done to create the first slayer centuries earlier. In consequence Karolina has most slayer powers but does lack the usual dreams or premonitions that natural slayers often recieve.
She does possess enhanced senses, including eyesight and hearing, as well as additional strength beyond that which a girl of her build should have. Karolina also bears enhanced reflexes and additional speed and endurance.
History:
Born to Maureen and Robert Douglas in Chicago, Karolina was an only child and as such was doted on by her parents. They were a well-off, if not exceedingly rich, couple and Maureen made the decision to stay at home with her daughter rather than work. Karolina was an easy toddler who threw few fits and won many people around quickly. In pre-school she made friends easily and Maureen enrolled the girl in dance glasses, at Karolina's insistance.
The blonde child had a love of dance and movement and she would continue with her ballet and jazz classes until well into high school. Karolina was an adventurous child, the type who would try anything once although she was quick to make up her mind after that one try. Horseback riding was dismissed after she couldn't get the horse to go any faster no matter how hard she nudged it. Gymnastics followed after a fall off the balance beam bruised her pride.
In elementary school she thrived and proved to be an excellent student. Although not gifted or the top of her class she did recieve consistant A and B+ marks in nearly all her classes with the exception of math, where she struggled. Her main strength though was in being a quiet addition to the classroom who always listened to her teachers and kept the students around her from getting into any trouble. On her tenth birthday, shortly before her grade 5 graduation, Karolina recieved a locket from her mother. The golden heart held a picture of the two of them taken last Christmas and Karolina loved the jewelry but it would take on sentimental meaning later in her life.
Middle school brought the challenge of growing up as girls became catty and boys suddenly interesting instead of unusual. Karolina weathered these most difficult years with a minimum of hurt feelings and lost friends and maintained her grades. She graduated grade eight and moved into high school.
High school meant less groups and more freedom to be yourself and Karolina was popular enough in her own group. She had her first date in grade nine with a boy named Cory and her first kiss a few months later. In the midst of this growth tragedy struck as a car accident killed both of Karolina's parents in a single blow. For a short time she lived with her maternal grandmother and took time off school as she grieved and attempted to come to terms with her new orphan status but the woman didn't have the resources to raise a girl on her own or to pay for college, should that be in Karolina's future. Instead custody went to her favourite Uncle, a man named Kevin.
Kevin worked in London, England and although the option was discussed of leaving the teenager in Chicago it was decided that a change might be best for her. Too many memories remained in Chicago. In the first few months she settled into a new country and a new guardian. Kevin was always soft with her and she thought he felt bad for her. Karolina used this to her advantage, at first being a spoiled child as she charmed her uncle into buying material items she wanted but she soon gave up the act and the momentary rebellion of staying out past her enforced curfew. That summer she caught up in her schooling but it was a gruelling amount of work, made more difficult by the differences in the education systems between the two countries.
Karolina slowly made new friends and grew into a young lady. So wrapped up was she in her new social life that she didn't notice the changes in her uncle. Suddenly he looked drawn and tired and he returned home after she had gone to bed some nights. Shortly after her seventeenth birthday she was told that they were going on a trip. Karolina asked where but only recieved a vague answer about a road trip before she became an adult. Suspecting nothing, she agreed. However a few minutes onto the road Karolina felt a hand holding a cloth over her mouth and she slipped into unconsciousness.
When she awoke she was in a dark room that was illuminated only by a single overhead spotlight. What followed was a liternal nightmare. Always there was chanting in an old language and then a creature that she would never previously have believed could exist would decend towards her while she was restrained, either by chains or strapped to a table. When the creature turned partially to shadow and attempted to work its way inside of her with a roar she screamed.
When the creature, which she would soon learn was a demon, was not around she was coldly tended to by many different men and one woman. Finally she recieved the story. These people were a branch of the Watcher's Council, an organization set up to fight against horrors the majority of the world would never even know existed. Vampires, demons, werewolves. They were all real. Although the pitch attempted to justify their actions Karolina could not accept it. They weren't the ones being tortured and feeling the demon attempting to merge with them. How could that be right?
This branch was a special operation, one that the main council didn't even know existed and they had taken matters into their own hands, deciding that the only way to win the fight was to create a second weapon, as the original watchers, known as shadowmen, had created a first centuries earlier. The experiments were attempts to create a second slayer by merging the demon once more with a human. What they tried not to tell her, but that she gleaned anyway, was that she was not the first attempt.
Karolina fought against the instrusion as best she could although the council tried drugging her and using spells to make her more receptive to the invasion. To Karolina it felt like mental rape. Every once and awhile she saw a flash of her uncle and he always looked slightly remorseful and slightly guilty but had told himself that this was what had to be done. Karolina learned that he was a lower member of this council and that he had sworn to do what was needed, including handing his niece over for the experiments. Not just any human would do after all, it had to be a girl who would be conditioned and who was intelligent and tame enough to use the powers they hoped she would recieve for good. The experiments had begun years earlier and there had been several failures and only two victims had survived, one was insane.
Although she fought the council eventually found the neccessary combination and some of the demon's essence remained in the terrified seventeen-year-old, the girl whose guardianship belonged to her uncle who had signed her life away for her. The experiment was a success but the council had not counted on the girl, a girl imbued with new powers she didn't understand and filled with terror and rage at what had been done to her. She was still a girl and very human and she could not bring herself to kill but what she could do was destroy and Karolina broke free of her bonds and burned the facility that had held her prisoner and took their research.
She had turned eighteen and was now in control of her own life but what kind of a life did she have? She had not finished high school and she no longer knew what she was. There was also the fact that she had no money. Karolina used her wits to keep her alive on the streets but remembered the horrors that were real and one night went to a graveyard. There she killed her very first vampire and tried to hone her skills. These powers were still new to her though and when she found herself pinned by a vampire one night she was rescued by the arrival of a boy.
The boy was older than herself but she felt an instant bond with him and when the vampire was killed they sat down to talk. Karolina learned that he was the survivor, the only other sane person who knew firsthand what she had been through. While she had been a success this other, whose name was Rory, had recieved only strength and hatred from the demon and not the other slayer senses and abilities she had recieved. Karolina revealed the research that she had taken but been too afraid of what she might find to read and steeled herself before diving into its contents. What she found sent her reeling, the information that the car accident which had killed her parents had been an act planned by this council branch in order to entrust guardianship to Kevin Douglas as she had been revealed as an ideal candidate for the experiment.
Now truly feeling that she could trust no one but Rory the pair attempted to evade those who were after Karolina for the stolen research and the evidence of the successful experiment. In the meantime the now duo did their part in attempting to fight evil as had been the plan all along. One fateful night they fought against a demon they had never seen the likes of before and the demon vanished before them into a swirl of light. Diving after him the pair found themselves in a place that was certainly not London, England. They killed the demon but found only afterwards that he had created a portal and that in his death they had trapped themselves in a very different world. Karolina found herself in New York but in a world where there hadn't been an experiment and where there was a very different sort of non-human - mutants. There was the option of trying to find a way back but that world held nothing for Karolina. It had killed her parents and taken her life away from her. It held similarly little appeal for Rory and they decided to take their chances in this brave new world together.
Personality:
Karolina was a normal girl until her uncle turned her over to the company he worked for and she was experimented on. As a result while she remains sane and largely the same person she was before the experiments there are some key differences. For one thing she has a difficult time trusting people and the only two people she puts her faith in are herself and Rory, who she knows went through the same dark experiences as herself. Often Karolina finds herself testing new "friends" without even realizing she is doing it and is of the opinion that trust has to be earned, preferably by demonstration in dire circumstances of faithfulness. When she does trust a person though she is unfailingly loyal, knowing firsthand what betrayal from a family member feels like and not wanting others to experience the same pain.
Karolina suffers from recurring nightmares about the weeks of the experiment and she has developed claustrophobia as a result of the small dark spaces in which she was contained. Sometimes her eyes will glaze over and she will appear catatonic for a few moments before a loud noise or a touch will bring her out of this state and she'll return to normal. Her experiences, while over, have scarred her.
What Karolina does realize is that there was a purpose behind the experiments and that they were done not to cruelly torture a person but to attempt to improve the world by fighting the forces of darkness. Although her power is unwanted and was never asked for it is hers nonetheless and she reluctantly uses it as best she can to fight evil.
To Karolina betrayal is the worst kind of sin and she treats any who lie to her or go against her trust with a cold indifference. Although almost petite in stature she is a confident person when it comes to how she carries herself and as a result she is able to be more imposing than a girl of her age and height should be. She feels an instant bond with any who have been treated unfairly, especially those who have been treated that way by friends or kin, and will fight for them and for those who can't fight for themselves as best she can. However, she is always suspicious and a certain amount of paranoia surrounds Karolina although she tries not to let it rule her. Unless Rory she is able to better control her emotions, including rage and fear, and to use them to her advantage in a situation instead of letting them control her. She doesn't make friends easily anymore and some people can't take her constant testing of them and walk away before they can really get to know her.
Likes:
Anything with fur, especially cats, as she appreciates their intelligence and independence, and dogs, because she admires their loyalty.
Slaying - as someone once said kicking ass is comfort food and it does help get out some of that agression and repressed emotion on a deserving adversary.
Loyalty
Fighting for the underdog - Karolina has a thing for the underdogs and for the minorities and has a bit of an ego in seeing herself as a champion for these people.
Mint - Her favourite flavour and smell, Karolina loves mint and tends to chew gum or keep mints on her person at all times.
Rory - her one close friend she can understand him like no other and he her.
Dislikes:
The dark - She isn't so much scared of the dark in general as she is wary of it and she much prefers light, where people and their motivations are illuminated.
small spaces - Karolina is claustrophobic and would have a real problem with being trapped in an elevator for example.
her uncle - Karolina feels a great amount of anger towards her uncle that she tries to control.
disloyalty - Having been betrayed once Karolina hates disloyalty and betrayal, especially from the people you trust most.
being helpless - Having been essentially held prisoner for weeks Karolina hates being helpless and without freedom more than anything. She doesn't like to feel weak and hates to cry in front of others, believing that showing vulnerability will make her vulnerable in the eyes of others.
All good.
There were one or two passages that were confusing me because of typoness, but I figured it out soon enough
I can't really think of anything to add...
For everyone comes the time when they have to take over responsibility. It stands to argue whether there is also a time when they can get rid of it again.
Re: Karolina Douglas - completed
*tackle hugs* Yay! An Angie! I've been a bad little poster. My brother had his prom and grad and I haven't been working so I was coming for the picture taking and grad ceremony stuff and ended up tired and going to bed before 2 am (shocking I know) and I'm working both days this weekend long hours but after that I shall be back and return with gifts of posts as goes the plan.
And bios because Rory needs one now and I can't wait for her to meet people either!
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