Basic Information Name: Lady Wilhelmina Bridget Hawtrey (Mina to her friends)
Age: 30
Gender: female
Occupation: Noblewoman of Sunderland
Chosen of: Theron
Appearance
Apparent Age: Late twenties, early thirties
Height: tall
Weight: Slender side of average
Build: Willowy but strong
Skin Color: Pale as is typical of Sunderland
Eye Color: pale blue
Hair Style: Long, worn up in some manner that will keep it out of her eyes.
Hair Color: Raven's wing black, except for a streak of white from the center-right of her hairline that she's carried since she was eight years old.
Fashion: Until very recently, the Lady Hawtrey wore the dark colors of a half-mourning wardrobe. Now that sufficient time has passed, she has begun to re-emerge from her grief into the fold of society once more. She favors jewel tones and earth tones when fashion allows. She is notoriously picky about her clothing, though her servants are mystified as to why some garments pass her inspection and others do not. All of it is carefully fashionable, however.
Personality
Base Alignment: NG
Personality description:
Outwardly, Mina is scrupulously polite, but known to be an absolute terror in any sort of business dealings. (She is always fair; the claws don't come out until her opponent decides against following suit.) She always seems to know... things... about people; the sorts of things that people of breeding do not wish others to know.
She brooks no argument and takes no prisoners, though she never does anything so objectionable as to cause herself trouble.
Since the death of her family, she is hardly ever found in her old haunts, only attending enough salons and events to keep up appearances, only engaging in enough business to maintain her fortune. The rest of her time is spent out in the woods. Hunting.
Deep down, however, Mina is a woman who believes in light, love, and happy endings. Of course they exist; she's seen them. She's quite sure, however, that those things are meant for other people.
With her life sullied by tragedy and (in her mind anyway) quite beyond salvaging, she has dedicated herself to a single idea. A solitary purpose: Like hell are wolves returning to this country.
It's possible to distract her from this single-minded obsession on occasion and for brief spans She has a generous heart under the icy facade; just because she isn't destined for happiness doesn't mean others deserve the same cruel fate. She prefers to offer any necessary help quickly and efficiently, however, and doesn't seek recognition for her actions. She has a job to do, after all.
Abilities
Mina is an accomplished markswoman (Good with a gun, but better with a bow) and equestrian as well as possessing an unseemly amount of knowledge for a woman, a fact she is adroit at disguising.
Brief Biography:
Mina's life is one stained by tragedy.
Her mother, Philippa Harte, died birthing her. Her early years were spent in the care of her father along with her elder brother. Being the only girl in the house, she developed a number of unseemly habits much to her father's amusement, such as running around barefoot and joining her brother in rambunctious games of pretend. However, like a young dog taught that humans will pet it and love on it if it jumps on them, she grew up and maintained the "bad" habits her father had allowed to be instilled in her.
But Mina was always a clever girl and quickly learned to conceal her true strong-willed nature behind a veneer of perfect good manners. She grew up as her brother's happy shadow, following him on all his adventures. At first annoyed by this, he came to accept, and then enjoy her presence as she quickly learned enough to keep up with him and not be underfoot all the time. It wasn't many summers before he was more staunch a protector of her than even her father.
When she was eight, however, tragedy struck again. Her father kept a small hunting cottage along the banks of a river where the little family often spent part of their summers. That year, though, the rains were terrible and ruined the hunting, and with the road washed out, they couldn't return home at the end of their stay.
They wound up celebrating Mina's eighth birthday there in the cottage, and that night the river flooded while everyone was asleep. Mina's brother managed to get her to the roof of the cottage and so saved her, but he and her father were swept away. Her father's body was found a few miles downstream, but her brother's was lost forever.
She was taken into the care of an aged family friend who had a peculiar set of skills. Mina had never learned exactly how it was that he knew her father, but he'd turned up in the fall every year to stay for a week or so, and her father had seemed to genuinely enjoy the fellow's company.
The man, who she came to call her "Uncle," cared for Mina well. While he might have been forgiven for harboring some resentment towards the small, sad shadow that had taken up residence in his home so unexpectedly, he instead showed her patience and kindness. He found that one of the few things that would draw his tiny ghost out of her shell was information of the sort one did not generally present to young girls.
Fortunately for Mina, "Uncle" had known a great many dangerous women in his time, and had long ago been disabused of the notion that women were weak or in need of protection. He was quite happy to oblige her in her love of the things she'd once enjoyed in her brother's company- horsemanship, swordplay (a subject she had great enthusiasm for, but no talent to speak of), tracking- in exchange for her smile.
In addition to those, he taught Wilhelmina a great many strange and useful things, much to her fascination. Things like archery, the proper use of a firearm, how to conceal a dagger in her skirts, and many secrets about the human body that could be used for good or ill. She absorbed this knowledge with ardor and expounded upon it in his library on inclement days, consuming books at a prodigious rate. Pleasant days (even wintry cold ones) she spent outdoors practicing the practical skills he taught her.
When she came of age to manage her father's full estate, her "uncle" even found her a good match among the peerage. Matthewy Hawtrey was handsome, eligible, and not too much older than she, but definitely of the philosophy that marriage was an institution meant only for the woman.
That was fine by Mina; she thought of their marriage more as a business arrangement than any sort of bond of affection. And since Matt kept his philandering hidden enough as to not damage their social standing she could not have cared less. He hadn't chosen her anymore than she'd chosen him, after all.
Besides, once he realized she was damned good at it he left the running of their merged holdings entirely up to her (just the way she preferred it) and enjoyed her company enough to give her twin sons. Their tiny smiles and laughter were the first things able to melt the rime of ice on her heart in years. She redoubled her efforts among the peerage, increasing the Hawtrey family's holdings and social standing in a tireless effort to secure her boys' future.
Her beloved "Uncle," the man who raised her after her father's death, passed away when the boys, Aiden and Isaiah, were but two. She grieved him privately.
Then, a year ago, the boys were finally old enough for Matt to take an interest in, and he found he quite liked their rambunctious but goodhearted temperaments. Isaiah was the quiet one, but even Matt had to appreciate the lad's resourceful mind. Aiden was the wee warrior, ever his brother's protector, and the apple of his father's eye as Isaiah was his mother's.
Mina was a far better hunter and archer than her husband would ever be, but had kept her... extracurriculars... secret even from her husband, determined to build as firm a foundation for her boys as she could. Scandal was most assuredly not part of the equation. And so, she remained quiet as a good wife should as she watched her husband ride out of their estate on his favorite chestnut horse, her precious boys on twin grays behind him. Surely even Matt wouldn't do anything dimwitted to endanger his heirs.
None of them returned home.
Mina, against all protocol, rode her black mare into the woods to find them. Lantern held high against the gathering dark, she found them, and for the first time, too late, she loved her husband.
Matthew had fallen first, giving his life while defending the boys. Aiden had died protecting his brother, and Isaiah had perished rather than leave Aiden behind. The culprit was painfully obvious- vast pawprints in the mud told the tale.
Wolves had returned to Sunderland. And they had made a lethal foe in the form of the Lady Hawtrey.
Friends:
Family: None that live... or do they?
Enemies:
Notes:
