Background Info - Rafia Stonemore

2008-06-01T00:48:47Z

Name: Duc.(Ducant) Rafia Stonemore aka Rafe (Rah-fay)

Age: 183, er, "18" (just forget about that last digit o.0)
Born: 1815, England

Race: Vampire - House of Acherus
Class: Night Class
Grade: 12th - Senior

Eyes: light gray-blue, but becomes an electric blue at night. Normally her eyes are hidden from view by mirrored sunglasses.
Height: 5' 9
Weight: 120's or so; she's not one to weigh herself
Body Type: Extremely lean, vampires have a voracious metabolism...if you can consider it a metabolism
Distinctive marks/scars: Rafia has a burn scar over her left eye that is coincidentally, in a flame pattern; the result of a fire which claimed her family's life. Also, usually hidden by her clothing, two puncture wound scars are visible on the left side on her lower neck.

Personality: Rafia is extremely formal and polite, but on the other hand, she can be scathing in a distinctly Victorian way when pushed. She unfortunately has a tendency to have a superior air, forgetting often that though she has lived long, no one knows so. Rafia also comes across as apathetic and disinterested in day to day problems, only looking to the long term future, mainly because to her, a year is simply a blink in time. Also she is almost obsessed with the arts, such as music, painting, and has even come to like the newfangled 'photography'. She has a bit of a problem adapting to technology, disliking things even such as phones; to her the old way is simpler and has 'withstood the test of time'. She has nothing against change in general, but is slow to integrate that change as she really is a creature of habit. She also has a bit of a vain streak, as most Acherus vampires do, and she is rather sensitive to the scars on her neck and on her left eye.

History: Rafia Stonemore was actually born Maria Deletante, daughter of Conte Raphael Deletante of Italy, and Baroness Elizebeth Harringston of England. Rafia's parents were wed as a business venture, but they got along rather well to be friends if not each other's love. From that alone Maria came to see weddings to be a 'business venture' and was the exact opposite of the girls who dreamt of a true love marriage. To her, arranged marriages were really not that terrible as long as the person you were marrying wasn't a monster; and being wed to monstrous men for money was actually not very common, most parents took pains to avoid such as it made them look bad.

Maria was raised in Italy during her younger years, her father, a rather warm if disconnected man, was fond of the landscape of Italy, but when she turned 13 she was brought to England to be immersed in 'higher society'. Maria was presented as a debutante quite
early at the age of 15. Within two seasons, or two years, a steady suitor had emerged with the name Devlin Acherus. He was a charming, indeed, almost frighteningly charming, young man of 22. He was considered one of, if not the most, handsome man in society at the time, and even better, he was noble. He was a Ducant, or a knighted and elevated Duke (abbrv. Duc.). Quickly Maria and Devlin were married tp consolidate a fortune, but it should be noted that Maria was never in love with Devlin, rather, in time she thought of him as a best friend.

Only a year and a half into their marriage Maria found out that the oh so charming Devlin was not exactly who he said he was. Devlin was no young lad of 22, rather an old vampire of 400. Devlin was actually the pureblood of the vampire clan Acherus, and as such was the head of that clan. Any vampire could turn a human by biting them then feeding the human their vampire blood, but that process waters down the power in the vampire blood. To be a pureblood one must have taken the 'gift' of vampire blood first, then bitten and transformed second. Vampire scholars believe it has something to do with the difference between being the 'victim' or being the 'bestowed upon'. Of course, that only works if the bestower is a pureblood, as the process preserves the strength of power, not increases it. Just in case though, the information is kept from the general vampire public.

When Maria learned of Devlin's nature, it really was too late. It was only when a sect of vampire hunters tore down their door to their Italian home did she learn the truth. Devlin managed to ensconce himself and Maria upstairs, where haggardly he explained. Just before the hunters broke down the door once again, moments from killing Devlin, he begged Maria for a last, and actually first, kiss from Maria. Glad Devlin had dropped she subject Maria decided to give him his last wish and kissed him though she had never done so before - both knew it wasn't really a marriage of love. As the vampire hunters entered the room Devlin pinned Maria against the wall, and in full view bit her, almost provoking the shots that ended his life.

Devlin's last acts had two purposed neither the hunters nor Maria herself realized at the time. The reason for the kiss was simply he needed a way to trick Maria into accidentally drinking his blood, even if it was the smallest speck. As he was bleeding from several wounds, there was a drop of blood on his lips which she had taken through the kiss. The reason for the bite was twofold, to finish the process started by the 'kiss' and second, to make sure that the hunter's checked Maria's heartbeat immediately. The surest way to verify if a person was becoming a vampire was to check if their heart was still beating, which they did, and to their satisfaction, Maria's was still pumping. However, unlike a regular vampire, who's heart stops immediately at the transfer of blood, a pureblood's transformation only takes place when the person dies, thus rising again as a pureblood.

It was only a matter of weeks later, as all of London was talkinga bout the mysterious murder of the Ducant , that the hunters went after Maria. They decided she knew too much and was not to be trusted, so as she was staying in her families estate, they set fire to the whole property. It was that fire that killed Maria's remaining family and scarred her eye - a burning piece of drapery had landed directly on her eye. As Maria ran from the direct flames, she eventually succumbed to smoke inhalation, and died...only of course to rise again. As Maria screamed awake in her coffin, Devlin's meaningless actions were pieced together in her mind, and Maria realized she had become what she was desperately afraid of in Devlin.

After freeing herself from the grave, Maria was surprised to see many people surrounding the area, all with the same paleness and something within them that Maria identified as the beast within. They were the lesser vampires of the Acherus clan, the 'family' Devlin had talked so passionately about, the family she was now in charge of. After a few years of laying low and letting rumor and talk dispell, Maria rejoined society once more, this time as Rafia Acherus Stonemore, changing her father's name slightly to hold on minimally to her past. Rafia then became what Devlin was, a suave and charming person, whose presence was almost hypnotic...

Acherus Clan: Not all vampires share the same weaknesses and aversion, nor the same philosophy or traits. The Acherus line is considered the most 'artistic' of vampires, choosing only the young, beautiful, and intelligent to turn - some of the world's most intelligent of scholars or the most brilliant of artists were part of the Acherus line. The Acherus line is actually rather disinterested in humans unless they see a person they wish to initiate into the fold, but that doesn't make them weak. Many other lines have made the mistake that because they'd rather make love than war, then they can't make war. In fact, the Acherus line has some of the most potent abilities of all vampires, but they are simply subtle.

Abilities:
Thrall - An Acherus vampire has a thrall of lust and awe, and unlike most other vampires who must have a personal item of the victim and concentrate on the ability to create a thrall, it comes naturally to them. An Acherus vampire must want to have a thrall for it to work, and also without a personal item and a strong will, it doesn't work unfailingly. Some people are naturally immune to thrall. While under thrall, depending on how strong the thrall is, a person can be fored to do nearly anything EXCEPT they cannot be forced to do an action that is truly against their heart. Ex. you could convince a good person to steal, but only if they had a small niggling part of themselves that says sometimes stealing is necessary or etc.

Empathic thrall - An Acheurs vampire's biggest power is their empathic abilities. they can influence and read the emotions of other people, it is where the potency of their thrall comes from. They can use this form of thrall across almost any distance allowing them to 'call' to people even in their dreams. Also, Acherus vampires have a form of speaking that uses emotive signatures, so it is somewhat telepathic speech.

Speed/Power: Yes, to put it simply all vampires are physically faster and stronger than humans, but only when not exposed to one or more of their various weaknesses below. Acherus vampires can't shimmer, orb, apparate or any other type of mystical travel. They are rather good at melding into shadows and simply sprint at ridiculous speeds making it look like they "flew" away.

Drawbacks:
Cold weather - Most vampires must be careful of cold weather as they have no internal method of regulating their body temperature; though they cannot die from freezing, their bodies don't function as well. Acherus vampires are especially sensitive to cold weather and a too low temperature makes them violently ill and eventually will put them in a comatose state.

Sunlight - Sunlight actually does not kill Acherus vampires; it doesn't even burn them, though they are affected. Under direct sunlight an Acherus vampire will start developing a massive migraine that will hinder their magic a little, and mainly hinder their physical speed and strength

Mirrors: Most vampires have a reflection, but tragically, the most beautiful vampires, the Acherus vampires, do not have one. It is something that is almost always betraying their true nature and usually what causes their downfall.

wolfsbane/garlic: while it won't kill an Acherus vampire, inexplicably they stay away from it and get queasy around it. Really there's never been a vampire stupid enough to try eating either of them, and there really is no way of proving how a vampire died as they crumble to dust, so there is no proof either plants can kill.

Blood: Just as all vampires, if the Acherus do not feed off of blood enough their body will literally turn upon itself - a nasty end as the starving vampire eats itself from the inside out, eventually crumbling apart.

Teh brain: most vampires are like zombies, the only thing that will really kill them, as in really surely kill them, would to be wack off their head, or beat it to mush while it's attached - ew...

deadly_pacifist

Background Info - Rafia Stonemore