[CRIT] Ice Wolf, Kassandra Hensley

[Pixie Krysta Ordreg]

Hero alias: Ice Wolf
Real name: Kassandra Hensley
Nickname: Kas
Powers/abilities:
Spirit Wolf – Kassandra can summon a spirit wolf to come to her aid at will. At rookie, the wolf is the size of an average timber wolf, and stays by her side for about five minutes. At Sidekick, the wolf grows in size to almost twice that of an average wolf and lasts for about ten minutes. At hero – her bond with her wolf spirit is complete, and the beast is now three times the size of an average wolf, and lasts for fifteen minutes.

The spirit wolf cannot be affected by physical damage – it is however, extremely sensitive to all the elements, save ice. Magic based attacks will also cause massive damage to the beast as it is purely a being of spiritual energy.

While the spirit wolf can affect the physical world, the majority of its damage is ice based (and some force damage due to it using kinetic energy to pierce the target's flesh) At rookie, the wolf's bite is freezing cold, but causes no real elemental damage. At Sidekick, the wolf's bite causes a thick layer of frost to form over the wound, potentially causing further injury. At Hero, the wolf's bite can actually encase the area it struck in ice.

Which area is the character based/from: Born in Upper Sewit, but raised in Tesea.
Age upon entering academy: fifteen years old.
How did your character get their powers: Kas' parents met when her father embarked on a year long expedition to the northern mountain tribes of Tasea. What was intended to be a purely scientific foray soon blossomed into romance when Kas' father fell madly in love with one of the chief's daughters, a tribal princess. The princess returned his affections, but when their love was discovered – and it was revealed that Kas' mother was pregnant, there was nothing to do but for Kas' father to bring her mother home with him after the expedition – else the girl and her mother would starve after being exiled from the tribe.

Kas was born in Sewitt, but it soon became obvious that her mother was very much missing home, however, her father was a busy man, and wasn't able to see the signs of impending disaster until it was too late. He returned home to discover his wife had sacrificed their little girl to the great wolf spirit of her tribe, offering the girl up as a morsel to the great spirit beast.

In what was probably the spirit's first encounter with an angry father and a shotgun, the spirit fled before the ritual could be completed, leaving behind a portion of its essence within the infant. The resulting physical changes were immediately apparent – so too were her powers. When scared or threatened, a large wolf would appear to protect her.

Her father, was unable to trust her mother after the incident and pressed for divorce. The custody battle for Kas lasted many months before it was decided that the best place for Kas would be in Tasea with her mother. There she could learn about the Great Wolf Spirit and possibly find a cure for her current predicament. She has only known Tasea, as no other place or tribe could help her learn how to control the wolf spirit, or so she thought – at least, until she learned about Sidekick Academy.

Motivation for entering academy: Kas has been raised by her mother and her tribe, treated as no less than a princess herself – more so – as she is seen as the embodiment of the Great Wolf Spirit. However, this is not conducive to the training of her ability – or getting used to the changes of her body. Her mother has finally decided it is time for her daughter to learn to control this ability – if not for herself, then for the good of the tribe. She knows that her daughter will never be able to learn if she remains with the tribe, spoiled by those who should be teaching her to harness her new-found spiritual powers. So, when the offer to have Kas go and learn at the academy reached her – she insisted her daughter go and learn. She would not have the future leader of the tribe be an uneducated monster – running about ripping out throats when she was afraid or angry. No – her daughter would attend the academy, whether she liked it or not

Strengths:
Incorporeal – Kas' spirit's wolf is for the most part immune to physical damage – enough force will damage its structure, but it takes a massive amount of force to do so (roughly equivalent to about two-tons of Dynamite.) This allows the wolf to be very effective against enemies that do physical damage.
Senses of the Pack – Kas' physical transformation is not purely cosmetic in nature. Her senses are heightened to that of a wolf as well as her physical strength. She also has a slight affinity to canines – in that, she can easily calm them or goad them on if need be. They are also naturally drawn to her.
Cold as Ice – Kas' spirit wolf emits cold in its bite, making it naturally strong to foes who have a weakness to ice. As the wolf grows in power – so does the intensity of the ice, eventually making it possible for the bite to freeze lesser foes completely solid.

Weaknesses:
Soul-bound – While immune to physical damage for the most part – magical or elemental damage wrecks great havoc on the spirit wolf. This damage is passed along the bond it has to Kas, causing her to feel the pain the great beast feels – wound for wound. Should the wolf be destroyed it tends to leave Kas unconscious unless she can stay up through force of will.
Cacophony – Her heightened senses come at a cost – having been used to having normal senses, the sudden increase in her ability to sense things is in a word – overwhelming. Strong smells, loud noises, sometimes its just too much for the poor girl, and it sends her reeling, sometimes to the point of having to leave the room or even faint if its a big enough shock. Eventually she will adjust to a degree – but she will never be completely comfortable with her new senses.
The Beast Within – Kas' physical transformation comes at a cost. When she gets particularly stressed, scared or upset – the wolf spirit takes over and she goes into a frenzy, lashing out like a cornered wolf and biting, clawing and calling forth the spirit without thinking. She will go after friend or foe in this state, and will fight until she is unconscious if she is cornered, otherwise – she will fight only to flee the area.

Looks department: bigger version
Height: five feet, seven inches
Body type: very petite, almost like she has no fat on her bones. Her bust is not much bigger then a b cup at most. She has the start of a young woman curves. She also has wolf ears instead of human ears that are dark gray-blue at the tips then blend out until they are white. She also has a long large fluffy tail that white then also blends out to the gray blue towards the end of the tail.
Hair: Long down to her waist wavy hair. Bangs cut short then long near her ears. Her hair starts off a pale blue green, then as it grows out, its ends up a dark blue green towards the ends.
Eyes: Her eyes are a purple blue.
Fashion: Tribal elegance. Her attire doesn't have to start off like this when she first enters the academy. But I would love it to come close to this when she reaches Hero.  

[Pixie Krysta Ordreg]

Personality

Positive:
Innocent: Kas views the world through innocent eyes. She sees people as good unless they are proven otherwise, which leads her to believe the best in everyone. This causes her to be nice to people as a rule, making her a very kindhearted individual. Her innocence doesn't always lead her down the right path however, but for the most part she stays on the straight and narrow.

Playful: Kas likes having fun, and sometimes the best way to have fun is to play. Her playful nature often translates into a bubbly demeanor. That's not to say that she's never serious, she can buckle down when she needs to when the situation calls for it, but for the most part, she'd rather play or have fun than be super serious.

Loyal: Kas will give her all for her friends. She is loyal to the end, always ready to help her friends the minute they need it. She always has their back, no matter what the situation is. She isn't one to give up on a friend or a friendship, but isn't going to allow her loyalty to be used against her. If someone hurts her, she may decide it is time to take another look at their friendship.

Trusting: Kas is very trusting of what her friends tell her. She's more than willing to believe what they say is true, as she has no reason not to trust them. She's a little less trusting of complete strangers, but she's still willing to give people the benefit of the doubt and believe what they tell her is true. This trusting nature can often get her in trouble.


Negative:
Naive: Because Kas is innocent, she views the worlds through a very limited frame. This leads her to being a bit naive when it comes to people, seeing the best in even the worst people. Her limited worldview also makes it somewhat harder for her to understand certain aspects of life, as she has never encountered them before. When she runs into one of these situations, her natural curiosity takes over and she sometimes pushes herself too far.

Gullible: When someone tells Kas something is true, she believes it. She doesn't even doubt for a second that they could be lying to her, and that tends to make her very gullible and easily lead astray. It's not that she can't figure out a lie – she's just inclined to believe that people aren't going to lie to her. This tends to get her in trouble more often than not, as her gullibility allows people to take advantage of her.

Doesn't know when to quit: While Kas likes to play, she sometimes doesn't know when to stop being playful and just be serious. This often causes her to miss out in important details or land her in a sticky situation that she isn't quite sure how to get out of. While she can be serious when she wants to be, most of the time she'd rather be her fun, playful self, than settle down to the serious business.

Too trusting: Kas tends to trust people to not betray her too much. She doesn't believe someone could lie to her, and that often gets her in worlds of trouble when someone lies to her for their own gain – as she isn't one to call them out on it, as she doesn't believe that they would do that to her. When she does realize her trust is betrayed though, she tends to not believe that person ever again, until they make it up to her.  

[Pixie Krysta Ordreg]

Other Info

Birthday: September 18th
Zodiac: Virgo
Birthstone: Sapphire
Favorite Food: Medium Rare meat, rice, and baked potatoes
Favorite Music: Tribal music, and anything she can mediate to.
Status: Single
Orientation: Straight
Current Living: As much as she hates it, she currently living at the academy.

Hobbies:
Mediation – Probably the only part of her spiritual training Kas actually enjoys! Meditating allows her to focus and relax at the same time – calming her down if she gets overly excited or helping her focus on a particularly thorny problem. It also allows her to feel most at peace with the spirit part of her – the Great Wolf Spirit – and allows her balance out her emotions. She often meditates when she is upset – or just needs to unwind – since it gives her a warm, fuzzy feeling.

Hunting/Tracking – The only chore Kas every volunteered to do was help with the hunting! However, she would only really track the animals down – the boys of the village would usually do the killing – mainly because she didn't want to dirty her hands – but more because she is absolutely terrible with any sort of weapon. She can't shoot a bow, throw a spear or hand-axe, so she leaves the killing of the pray to those who have the actual skill to do so.

Games – Kas loves games! If the rules are easy to pick up that's even better! She's a pro at hide-and-seek and tag. But she's not impartial to boardgames like chess and checkers. Her father has been teaching her chess on his visits to the tribe – he even gifted her a board and pieces on her tenth birthday. He has also taught her many card games – but she's not as fond of those. She is more partial to hide-and-seek and chess – since she enjoys the time with her father greatly.  

[Pixie Krysta Ordreg]

General backstory

Family
Father: Solomon Hensley – 45 – A Gentleman Adventurer/Scientist – Solomon Hensley is a scientist of a different sort – instead of working in a lab, he travels the world in search of new discoveries. He has earned himself the title of “Gentleman Adventurer” by some of his fellows at the University of Science in Upper Sewitt – mainly due by his harrowing escapes and encounters fraught with peril in his mad pursuit of new discoveries. Even approaching fifty, Solomon hasn't given up adventuring, be it at the bottom of the sea or attempting to reach the moon! He visits the tribe of his ex-wife and daughter as often as he can, often piling gift-upon-gift on Kas from his many adventures. He loves his daughter dearly, and wishes he had kept custody of her so she could join him on his many adventures around the world.

Mother: Kou'at'a Hensley-Icewalker – 40 – Tribal Chieftess/High Shaman – Kou'at'a leads the Icewalker tribe with her brother – acting as both Chieftess and High Shaman for the tribe. She has attempted to teach her daughter the ways of the Great Wolf Spirit, but the other Shamans spend more time allowing the girl to play and laze around than actually assist her with lessons. She allows this only because to do otherwise would cause the other Shaman to fear the wrath of the Great Wolf Spirit. Kout'at'a is unsure whether the spirit actually dwells within Kas or not – but she is not quite willing to risk angering their totem spirit just yet...

Homelife
Life in the Icewalker tribe is pretty easy for Kas – she doesn't do chores, doesn't have to hunt – and is very popular among both adults and children. She is practically worshiped by her people, who see her as the living embodiment of their totem spirit – the Great Wolf. She need but ask and things are brought to her. She is more inclined to play than study under the Shamans, and they are more inclined to let her do so – even if it means she sometimes causes harm to the other children when she gets out of hand. But she is never blamed for these incidents – and thankfully none of the other children have been killed. Many of the children are actually thrilled to see her spirit wolf in action – it is the closest many of them have come to their totem spirit.

Childhood
Kas' father was a well to do gentleman adventurer – as well as a man of science. He tended to take long expeditions to the farthest most obscure reaches of the world he could find in order to discover new things in the name of science. His travels to the Northern Highlands of Tasea brought about a strange thing for Kas' father – instead of discovering a new scientific discovery, he fell deeply, madly in love with the tribal princess of the native tribe that acted as both his host and guide. A love affair soon blossomed between the two – leading to Kas' conception.

The Tribal Chief was not happy that his daughter had been 'polluted' by the foreigner, and demanded he leave – and take his defiled daughter with him. Heartbroken, but holding fast to her lover, Kas' mother left with her father to his home in Upper Sewitt. It was not long until they were married – and soon enough Kas was born. Her father was rarely around – not one to give up his pursuits in the name of science, often leaving Kas and her mother alone for weeks if not months at a time. Finally – Kas' mother had, had enough – and at the tender age of two – Kas' mother offered her daughter up to the Great Wolf Spirit as a sign that she was ready to return home – to beg forgiveness for “betraying” her tribe to one who was not one of the blood.

It was by chance - more than anything that had brought Kas' father home that day, and when he discovered the tribal ritual in full swing and the large wolf spirit towering over his infant daughter about to consume her, he quickly went to the mantle and pulled down his shotgun – a souvenir of one of his many sojourns – and loading it full of buckshot – launched and angry assault at the beast. While the shot itself did nothing to the spirit itself but it did destroy the skull used as the focus for the ritual, forcing the spirit back into its realm, but not before it left its mark on the child, infusing her with some of its essence.

Her mother quickly flew into a rage at her father – they argued long into the night, over their daughter, who as far as her father could tell, suffered no ill effects from he ritual. Her mother – thrilled by her daughter’s transformation – took it as a sign she would be welcomed back to the tribe.

Kas' father – wounded that her mother only cared to return to her people, granted her the release she sought – and though it pained him to do so, he knew he could not trust the woman he married after the incident that had occurred and so he divorced her. He did however, fight long and hard to keep his daughter in Upper Sewitt with him – but sadly, after many long months of fighting, he eventually caved to Kas' mother's point that only the tribe would be able to teach Kas how to live with the spirit of the Great Wolf.

It was with a heavy heart – and an oath to always be just a letter away – that Kas' father sent her back to her tribe with her mother.

Kas and her mother were welcomed into the tribe with open arms. The tribal chief was dead – and his successor, Kas' brother – was more than willing to accept his sister and her spirit-touched daughter back into the tribe. The new Tribal Princess, Kas wanted for nothing – though her education suffered for it.

For 13 years, Kas need but ask for a thing and it was given to her – and she often desired to play more than learn how to control the Great Wolf Spirit that dwelt within her bones. Her mother began to worry – casting her eyes northward, towards a place where her daughter might learn...