Isabel Montemayor

— Dr. Montemayor referring to her self-induced monstrous affliction

 — Isabel, in the chapel of her hometown, Chapa de Mota.

## Dr. Isabel Montemayor

pronounced and distended bone structure

Chapter VIII: Isabel

Chapter X: Toll the Dead

Chapter XIII: For the Last Time

Chapter XVI: A House of Dreams

Chapter XVII: Sentimentalism

Chapter XXIX: Gone

#### Human Form

In her human form, Isabel Montemayor is a woman in her mid thirties who stands about 6’1” tall with curly dark brown hair worn loose and ratted down to her mid-shoulders, deep ochre skin that appears to be perpetually raw, and a heart-shaped face with high cheekbones and full lips. Her smile has a certain warmth to it — despite the multiple cuts on her lips from her own sharpened teeth — a warmth that makes those who view it feel like she is letting them in on a little secret for the two of them to share. Her black eyes seem to have a certain spark to them, one which will ignite and dull seemingly at random to the outside observer, and are often narrowed in careful attention to her work.

Isabel is full-figured and wears a tattered white button up shirt over cut and ragged khaki pants, underneath a dirty and torn lab coat with sewn in leather armor padding. Her feet and hands are bare to the earth and sky, as they appear to be splayed unnaturally as if they contain far more bones within them than the surface betrays. She is tall, hunched over, her curled back revealing prominent vertebrae. Her whole body is coating in a fine layer of dirt and dust with frequent splotches of red blood stains. Her teeth have begun to fall out, some starting to regrow into needlepoint fangs, and her eyes are mismatched, one yellow and feline.

#### Monstrous Form

In this form, Isabel takes on a form close to 9'10'' tall, however she is often hunched, with long, bony, almost lupine limbs ending in gnarled claws and wide inhuman hands. An all too long and thick neck ends in a head somewhere between a human woman and coyote with two large rams horns piercing the skin at her temples. Her whole body appears to be twisted and contorted as if her skin barely can fit the multiple skeletal structures under it, some humanoid others bestial.

In this form, she appears to be able to run on all fours at remarkable speed along with being extremely durable and strong.

### Personality

Isabel is an extremely goal-oriented person, sticking to her plan even if it means the death or damage to her or others. Despite this, she does seem reluctant to have too many innocents die, warning Peregrine Diane Eckhardt directly to stay away from the Nocturne Order case, although this may have been due to her previous relationship to Perry's mother. Accentuating her goal-oriented nature, she is an incredibly manipulative person, saying what her targets want to hear to get them to go along with her plans. This has been used on both Perry and Luc; Luis appears to be safe because he doesn't interest Isabel.

She also seems to be quite argumentative and stubborn, refusing to concede on points and often only doing so to neutralize a situation she no longer cares for or to get people she sees as less intelligent to go along with her plan, with no intentions on actually following through on their wishes. In a more innocent light, Isabel can be incredibly dramatic, often using extensive and verbose sentences in an attempt to sound profound or intelligent but often coming off as either pompous or foolish. Her way with words can be used to great effect whenever she can display her more duplicitous nature.

Once confident, Isabel seems to doubt herself when in private: she has become a monster by her own omission, succumbing to her "curse" and having to resort to consuming human flesh. All seems hopeless to her now, but she has given too much to forget it now, following her horrible path to its end. Everyone else has failed... and she likely will, too.

## Abilities

### Shape-shifting

In *Under Auspicion, Isabel,* and *Under Hallowed Ground*, Isabel was shown being able to shape-shift through a process of using the previous body as a cocoon that she erupts out of. This appears to be limited, but by an unknown amount.

**Creatures Isabel Can Turn Into**

* Owl
* Dog
* Rat
* Monstrous Form

## Relationships

### **Lucero "Luc" Lonetree**

Luc and Isabel have a strongly antagonistic relationship, with Luc claiming she lied to him and strung him along for her own benefit. Isabel finds Luc to impatient, overconfident in his own abilities, and entitled. She admitted in *Toll the Dead*, that Luc leaving her was a direct cause to her self-experiments leading to her current monstrous form. Surprisingly, while she seems annoyed by this, she doesn't appear that regretful at her current state; instead, her animosity to Luc appears to be about his abandonment of whatever arrangement they had. This animosity was revealed to have a strong undercurrent of what Isabel refers to as "sentimentalism" although it's unclear if she's using everyone else's definition. She sees herself in Luc and appears to still value his motives and opinions in some capacity. In Chapter XVII, Isabel met with Luc in her final moments in town to give him a serum that would allow him to fully succumb to the virus. Whether this was a kind gesture or another manipulation tactic (or likely both) is unknown. Regardless, Isabel believes that Luc is already gone as much as she is, and would likely refuse to help the ill-fated man even if she wanted to.

### **Luis Cavalier**

While Isabel was initially dismissive of Luis, after running her hand along his palm, she was able to deduce something about him that intrigued her. Saying his "ties" could be a great asset, she offered to help his powers progress alongside Perry. This wasn't particularly followed through on and she quickly lost interest in him, possibly due to his lack of interest in her own cause.

### **Peregrine "Perry" Diane Eckhardt**

Isabel's relationship with Perry appears to have some sort of history that even Perry was initially unaware of. Isabel had a close relationship with Perry's mother, Michelle Cisco, her "right hand" during the Najaliscan Civil War, and her confidante in organizing against a group of archons. Isabel thus had information about Perry and the power hidden within her bloodstream — something potentially incredibly powerful if brought to the surface.

During her night time visit in *A House of Dreams*, this belief in Perry's ability appeared to be questioned when she likened Perry as a pet to Luc. Isabel never spoke to Perry directly after her visit in *For the Last Time* and did not say goodbye when she skipped town. Isabel appears to have given up on her due to her failure in stopping the Coraline Poe's concert at Cicitlahuacan.

She had once offered to train and advance Perry's powers — to give her the "power of a god, or at least a god-slayer" — she has since started discouraging Perry's involvement in worldly affairs, telling her to forget everything and "have a whirlwind romance," not that she cared. It may be lack of faith in Perry's competence, her relationship with Michelle, or another thing entirely, but she has discouraged Perry from following her and wished for her to take the slim chance she has at a happy life that Isabel and Michelle never did.

### Michelle Cisco Eckhardt

Michelle was once Isabel's *right hand* during the civil war. It seems their relationship was more personal too, since Isabel appears to think of her often and cries out for her forgiveness at her lowest points. It's hard not to believe they might have kissed or something.