Character Name: Nualla Espen A.K.A. Dog
Age: 202 (appears in her mid to late twenties)
Race: Human/Hellhound
Sex: Female
Appearance: Nualla is a tall woman though she is not so tall to attract undue attention. Most of her height is due to her long legs – a trait she enjoys making the best use of, whether it be in an elegant side-split gown at a party or clad in protective leather as she strides through the wilderness. She is clearly fit and well-trained physically. Her strength and power comes from leading a very active lifestyle and not through deliberate training though she has found that even during long periods of inactivity she rarely loses that level of fitness.
Her lips are full but she is rarely seen wearing makeup of any kind. Makeup just is not important to her. It seems the only vanity she takes is with her waist-length hair. It shines with vitality though it appears to have been dyed a deep black that shimmers purple in the right light. This shimmring hair colour is however very natural as she will have no shame in proving. The other notable feature she displays is her bright green eye. The other eye is covered with a black leather patch. She rarely talks about how she lost it and will often ignore or even growl angrily at impolite strangers who ask. Needless to say her torso and thighs still bear the marks of that time too.
Most often she wears a simple black leather outfit. The leather is soft and flexible suggesting she has taken this as a sort of uniform in her work. It is the outfit she feels most comfortable in as it allows her enough protection and movement to track and hunt freely. She usually carries a small backpack filled with a few essentials wherever she goes.
Sometimes Nualla is nowhere to be found and in her place is a large grey hound. The size of the beast is close to that of a large pony or a small horse, making it rather difficult to miss. It looks somewhat like a massive wolfhound but with shorter fur and longer toes on its paws. The observant will note a short thumb-like toe on the inside of the two front paws. The Hellhound can sometimes be seen standing on its hind legs and attempting to use these two front paws like hands, often with little success and a lot of frustration.
When naked in either form it is much easier to see the scars that marr her fine skin. Usually either fur or leather hides them from the sight of others. Oddly the scars that mark her face and indicate her missing eye are the only ones she is touchy about and will always try to cover up. Her upper arms and thighs have long streaks across them as though she had been slashed repeatedly with a sharp blade. Four perfectly parallel gashes from above her left breast, over her sternum and across her right ribs. These are clearly the claw marks of a vast animal very like her own Hellhound form. Smaller ones run across her lower spine but are not as deep and cut off abruptly as though she were able to shake this final attack off quickly.
Personality: Nualla can be gruff and downright rude with those she does not know. This is due to the nature of her lifestyle to date. She was often forced to mix with the lowest and least civilised aspects of society and her gruff nature is a mere defence mechanism to drive unwanted attention away.
Once she feels secure in the presence of another she will open up and show her true nature. She enjoys the finer things in life and will make the most of any small luxury she comes across. Time playing is very important to her as she is actually a friendly fun-loving woman. She can even be described as caring and gentle sometimes, not that those who are not her friends would ever know anything beyond her aggressive exterior.
She is incredibly loyal to those she trusts and she sometimes wonders whether this is her own personality or a trait of her hound side. When she becomes the dog she often has the same friendly nature but she is more accepting of strangers and will happily accept an ear rub or a game of fetch from anyone. However her aggressive streak can make her incredibly dangerous in this form as she has less control over her emotions. If she senses a threat to her or those she is loyal to she will attack and will maul or kill her perceived enemy viciously unless she is called off by one she trusts.
History: It was over 175 years ago that the Nitorian Army marched across the south of the continent, destroying or enslaving the towns and villages they encountered. Among them was a young woman - the descendent of a freed slave. She was merely one of the many troops entrusted with the handling of the large Hellhounds that the shamans of the army had called up and bound to their cause.
One small tribal village put up a strong fight against the massive army and their well defended home became the site for a long siege. All attacks were repelled easily and the commanders of the army suspected it was due to more than the strategic placing of the village, high on a steep mound. The Hellhound troops were charged with breaking into the village and finding the source of the tribe’s power. Nualla climbed astride her hound and under the cover of darkness she and several others were able to leap the tall walls, thanks to the distraction of the rest of the army elsewhere.
They soon sniffed out the largest hut in the village which was home to an entire family of mystics, seers and psychics. The family was to be slaughtered from the youngest to the oldest, one by one. As Nualla stood over the oldest and most wizened of the witches she demanded the secret to the fortification of the village. The old woman laughed and began to speak in a language unfamiliar to Nualla. She swore at the woman and commanded her hound to deliver the fatal deathblow but it was too late. She found herself cursed by the powerful magic the woman possessed and she and her beastly steed were merged into one fearsome being under the woman’s control.
She turned her anger and aggression on those who had only moment before been her own comrades in battle. The fight was bloody and vicious and her wounds from the fight were terrible but soon after the handlers were torn apart and the Hellhound themselves freed from their slavery by the magic of the remaining mystics. Nualla found herself half-blind and shaking from pain and fear at the feet of the old woman.
Instead of finishing her like Nualla had expected the old woman took her into her care and within a short time the vast demon dog that had once been a soldier became the protector and guardian of the village. The army that lay siege were weakened by their many months of encampment. The village were soon able to attack and scatter them with the help of both Nualla and the magic wielding family.
It was Nualla's powerful jaws that tore out the throat of the army's leader in a memory she can never forget. That man who had sworn his love to her in secret was her final victim in that war. She had been granted her human form for long enough to sneak into the beseiging camp. Letting her beaten and broken frame into his tent she was shocked to find him lying with another woman. She learned quickly that he had bedded most of the women of the army, telling them each that he loved only them and that their romance would have to be secret. Nualla felt herself transforming and her hurt and betrayal turned to anger. He had no protection from her cruel mauling. She had let the girl go, however. They were both his victims both in this war and his lust.
Not knowing what else to do she obeyed when she was called back to the village by the wise woman, Grandmother Espen. For generations Nualla served the wise women of the village, protecting the people from attack and helping them hunt for food. Never again did she know the form of a human. It had been denied to her by the curse she had been given and sealed in blood when she choose to transform to kill her lover.
But she was comfortable and well treated in the village. The years passed and she never aged. Instead she watched the children she had protected grow and have children of their own, and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. It was after a noble and almost fatal endeavour to save the life of a young child swept into a dangerous and raging river during a flood that the granddaughter of the original wise woman saw fit to lift the curse. However the magic that had been used was ancient and irreversible and all she could do was lessen the curse.
Nualla was no longer trapped in the form of the Hellhound and was once more a young woman. She soon learned that she could shift from one form to the other with no more than the strength of her will and that even in human form she retained the heightened senses and great strength of the hound, just as she retained her human mind when she became canine once more. However she quickly learned that the curse still struck every month, forcing her into the Hellhound form for three days and three nights. These days came without warning, she would simply wake up one morning to discover she had shifted in her sleep and would be unable to change back.
Four times a year she experiences the Hellhound version of being 'in heat'. Her hormones and pheromones run so wild that her libido becomes difficult to handle and will often affect those around her. Often she amuses herself by going into nightclubs and watching as the humans, unaware of what is going on, experience the benefit of their own heightened sexual needs. Other animalistic beings will often be able to scent just what the cause it and who is causing it. Usually she prefers to seclude herself out of the way until it passes, especially now that she is within the confines of the library. Attempting to seduce any male (or sometimes female) in the vicinity is not always considered polite after all.
However, the rescue of the child left Nualla traumatised. She developed hydrophobia and as such is very reluctant to be in any body of water deeper than a bathtub. Even then she prefers showers. She will spend long times searching for 'safe' ways to cross rivers to avoid wading through them. Even travelling by boat makes her incredibly uneasy. Only in the direst of circumstances will she attempt swimming despite being a very strong swimmer. Such unavoidable incidents often cause her to retreat into a very introverted state as she tries to deal with the reawoken trauma.
After many decades living life as both human and hound in the village she decided it was time for her to try again at her life. She left the village and looked for work, which she soon found was hard to keep due to her unexplained absences. The ideal job opportunity presented itself when she accidentally helped apprehend a wanted fugitive. She spent many years as a successful bounty hunter but now she longs for more and is searching for a stable lifestyle.
Additional Information: Among her many skills including heightened strength, speed and dexterity Nualla has discovered her curse has stopped her aging. She knows she can be wounded in either form and that the scars and wounds will remain if she shifts forms so she presumes she can be killed as easily as any other mortal. She has the advanced senses of a canine in both forms.
She has fashioned her own multi-purpose staff based on designs she found once in an ancient temple. The staff has a hook on one end that appears to have a hole through it. Using this hook she can reach and claw things too far away or too high to grasp. It can also be removed and attached to a rope to form a grappling hook. Unscrewing the hook from the top reveals another, thinner pole inside. Attached to this thinner pole is a length of fabric that is wrapped around it. The fabric comes in useful should she need a quick and temporary shelter, a make-shift net or even a warm cloak (when detatched from the thin pole). The staff can also be used as a weapon in a fight, though she still prefer to use her fists face to face. The outer staff can be broken down into portable sections and the rope and fabric separated. However she often needs to find a new inner pole once it is reformed.
Image/s:
