Cornelia Umbriana da Catania

### Dislikes

The Martyrdom, The existential dread of being a mere speck in the cosmic expanse and not leaving anything significant to be remembered with

## Magic

### Principle

Vampirism, Paradox

**Cornelia Umbriana da Catania** is a member of the Grand Order Of Magi from the Covenant of Hermetica, and a Vampire who famously split her soul in two after experimenting with Vampiric biology and souls. She became a famous member of the Covenant of Hermetica ever she achieved immortality as a Vampire in the 14th century CE . A powerful battlemage, she has trained the Hermetica in the ways of war, and is a staunch opponent of the Martyrdom, even before she became a Vampire. She is known as the "Maresciallo Cremisi", the Crimson Marshall within the Order, and has the magical and martial prowess to prove it. While she has refused invitations to join the Order's Veil on the grounds that it would take time from her research, she has nevertheless aided and protected the Covenant of Hermetica during their many shadow wars with the Martyrdom in Italy. She is the current head of the Umbriana Family as she has sired many vampires in her time, and she is highly respected by them as their matriarch.

## Background

Cornelia came from a peasant background, born to farmers in 1339. Through sheer luck, she was born with the ability for magic but due to her family's status in society, her parents simply repressed any education of magic and forbade her to use it. She and her family survived when the Black Death came due to her secretly studying her magic and purging the disease from herself and her family's bodies during the height of the plague. While they did survive, the population decline caused by the Black Death resulted in smaller taxes and smaller income for the elite, and a smaller work force who demanded better salary and better conditions from the elite, who reacted to the demands by repression and violence toward their work force. Her parents were killed by the men of the local noble who owned the farmland and figured it would be cheaper to just steal the farmers from a different farm and replace the ones they killed.

Cornelia survived and escaped, realizing that she truly was at the bottom of the food chain, her family's lives were insignificant. Her parents' bodies were buried on the very land they tilled for years along with many other peasants whose names were lost to time. This instilled a deep-rooted fear in her, the dread of insignificance and powerlessness. She wandered Sicily from city to city, begging and stealing just to survive until one day. But the lack of proper shelter and nutrition made her very sickly. Her lack of magical education also made her unable to use her magic to serve her self in her malnourished state. When she thought she was about to die during a cold winter night, through sheer luck, a mage saw her lying in the streets. The mage happened to be part of the Covenant of Hermetica and took pity on the child, taking Cornelia as her own apprentice. She learned her master was a Vampire but she was a benevolent one who merely used vampirism for research. From there Cornelia learned of the world of magic and saw an opportunity, she found the path that would allow her to rise up and battle her fear of being swallowed by the cruelty of the world and being forgotten. She spent countless years as studied and struggled to hone her magical abilities. Her Healing and Restorative magic was not enough. She did everything she could to gain more knowledge and power, she stole, she killed, she persuaded, she exploited, everything just to ascend the ranks of the Covenant. By the time she became an Initiate Exemptus, her former master was killed, assassinated by Martyrdom Inquisitor. Cornelia and her old master was ambushed during a scholarly expedition to mainland Europe. Before she died, she imparted a final gift to Cornelia. She knew how her old student obsessed with living long and sculpting a great legacy, so she turned Cornelia into a Vampire with one bite. But years of experimentation with her own vampiric biology made her impart a mutated strain of Vampirism that skipped the mindless familiar-stages and made Cornelia independent of her sire. Using her abilities, she escaped back to Sicily, confronted with the concept of death once again with her former master's passing. She dropped her former peasant name and became Cornelia Umbriana da Catania, from the city her master called home and where Cornelia was trained in during her youth.

With longevity secured, she continued her old master's studies and continued to experiment with her own vampiric body and studying its effects on her soul. For centuries she delved into even more esoteric texts regarding soul manipulation and vampirism, hunting and capturing other vampires for study, and most importantly, training herself to become stronger. The death of her mentor made her realize that aging is not the only danger to her life. Her supernatural strength and magical potency thanks to vampirism made her a formidable fighter for the Covenant of Hermetica to the point she received many invitations to join the Veil, but she declined every single one as it would take away the time from her research. The only exception was when she was needed to fight Martyrdom Knights or Inquisitors.

By 1692, her research resulted in her developing a way to split her soul into two, and resulted in her self being divided into two bodies. One retained the ruthless ambition and determination cold and inhumane, the part of her that rejected humanity for the chase of power, the other retained her human side, pride, the desire for recreation, to use her powers to influence and control people. The resulting Soul Split made her weaker when the two bodies were distant from each other, but when both are close, Cornelia could perform separate actions thanks to her two bodies. While they were different aspects of her soul, both acted under one mind. They are Cornelia, and neither would act against the other. Because of this, Cornelia doubled her productivity. One would stay in her workshop in research, the other would partake in the intricate politics and relationships of the Order. Even with the Soul Split, Cornelia was still not happy with what she achieved. There were taller mountains to climb. She eventually became a Peritum of the Order and would become a renown teacher of Combat Magic, earning her moniker of the Crimson Marshall. Imparting her wisdom in battle was one way to leave a legacy, while her other body remained undisturbed in studying and creating artifacts that would give her even more power.

With her two "sides" continuously shaping the legacy of Cornelia Umbriana da Catania, the Crimson Marshall, she indeed became famous in the Order, with many magi from different covenants coming to study Battle Magic from her or the more esoteric studies of vampirism and soul manipulation. In the present, she is a Magister of the Covenant of Hermetica, and is one of the most easily-recognizable in the Covenant's Council due to her being in two places at once most of the time, and the fact that despite her ambition and pride, she does not look down upon lower-ranking magi and is genuinely interested in imparting knowledge as she has accepted that the best way to leave a legacy is by imparting her wisdom to the future generations and keeping it alive.

## Appearance

Due to her soul being split into two, she has two bodies, one would die if the other ceases living. Her "original body" is slightly taller and has her old auburn hair color, while her other half has greenish hair with red-tips, many modern people would mistake it as hair dye.

## Personality

While many mistakenly view her as being two people with different personalities, Cornelia's "halves" are separate pieces of her psyche and personality. This duality of character compasses both cold ambition and charming manipulation that Cornelia would normally have had she not split her soul in two.

Cornelia's first body encapsulates her ambitious and calculated side. She possesses an unwavering determination to acquire power, whether it be in the realms of magic and intellect, politics, or personal achievements. Driven by a steely resolve, she remains focused on her goals, employing strategic thinking and a meticulous attention to detail. This side of her exudes unwavering sense of control, displaying an air of authority and powers and certain level of professionalism, displaying a no-nonsense attitude that demands respect and obedience from those around her.

Cornelia's second body shows her instinctive, spontaneous, and desiring, indulging in debauchery and reveling in the art of manipulation. She possesses a magnetic personality, effortlessly drawing people into her web of influence with her charming demeanor and silver-tongued eloquence expected from a woman who has lived long and met many people in her day. With a captivating smile and a mischievous glint in her eyes, she can effortlessly manipulate situations to her advantage. Cornelia understands the power of her allure and knows how to use it to bend others to her will, and the influence she can leave on people. It's this side that shows her love for wine and luxurious food. She thrives in social settings, effortlessly drawing people into her web of influence. This side reflects Cornelia's understanding of the human psyche, knowing just the right strings to pull to achieve her desires. While her methods may sometimes be morally ambiguous, she uses her talents to further her goals with a captivating smile.

Although she originally split her soul to cover more ground in her never-ending quest for power and influence, she has found self-reflection and understanding, began seeking harmony with this her dual-nature, harnessing the strengths of both bodies to carve her own path in life. Her time spent as a vampire with two bodies made her realize the complexity and depth that can reside within a single individual, and there is power and potential that lie within the human spirit. Even if she has forsaken the body of a mortal, she still possesses a human soul.

And while the two are separate, they essentially share the same mind and sense of self. They are Cornelia, and neither of them would go against the other. Their actions are always in accord and their goals are all the same, the only difference is the method of achieving it. Due to the soul split, the two bodies converse with one another telepathically, as if a normal person is having a conversation with themselves in their head, and they normally do not talk to each other verbally, unless there's other people around and Cornelia wants to trick people into thinking she is two separate people. At those times, she would sometimes don fake names like "Cesaria and Lucrezia".

Due to her position as a Magister, she has no trouble getting a supply of blood to sate her vampiric thirst, to the point where she drinks blood after a chaser of alcohol. She makes sure to leave the image of a successful magus in the eyes of others, as her ambitions as a peasant girl remains within her heart even after all those centuries. Through it all, it's not about living a good or bad life, it's about living an interesting life, so when the inevitable end comes, Cornelia is no just a footnote in the cosmic tapestry, but an interesting pattern in the infinite weave.

*"Take and do whatever you desire in this life. Because no matter what happens, the end is inevitable. Believe me, life can take anything and everything away from you, Except your story, your legacy, it would be best to make it interesting. Because we are all heading for the same destination."*

*-Cornelia to an apprentice*

Her long life has also made her quite the polyglot and savvy to other cultures, especially those that she visited in her travels and expeditions. It was not uncommon for magi from Asia recording encounters with an Italian Magus and Vampire seeking out artifacts or other magi, or looking for new members of her House Umbriana.

As the leader and founder of House Umbriana, she is a strict but fair leader, and always makes sure that the prestige and influence of House Umbriana continues to be maintained. While her Original Body is usually seen in the Vampiric Clan's headquarters, it is not uncommon for her Sanguine side to be the one to take charge. She considers all the vampires she sired and the "children" they sired as her kin, and strictly maintains order as their Matriarch who makes sure no one dishonors the name of House Umbriana while at the same time also maintaining the well-being of her kin. She has lost her family once already, and she always makes sure it doesn't happen again.

## Abilities

### Vampirism

Cornelia is naturally stronger, faster, more durable, and magically potent due to her Vampirism. She has ascended to the stage of Sanguine, and has amplified her magical abilities thanks to such a stage to the point where she is the strongest Magister in terms of raw combat prowess within the Covenant of Hermetica. While she has a natural aversion to sunlight as well as anything that imbues the concept of purity and the other anti-vampire weapons of the Martyrdom. she has learned to combat them throughout the centuries, utilizing alchemical creations and mixtures to create a sun-screen that weakens the damage of sunlight to her which she uses for day-time excursions or visits to a beach. Her version of Vampirism skipped the first two stages of mindlessness and servitude due to the experiments done to her sire's own blood, resulting in accelerated mutation to the Vampire stage immediately. Her heightened senses as a Vampire also makes her an expert in tracking down people and sensing incoming danger, the later developed even further in her youth as she was always weary of possible dangers to her life.

### Soul Split

A phenomenon only made possible thanks to her Vampirism and knowledge in magical soul manipulation, Cornelia's soul is split into two pieces which also resulted in a body growing from her separate soul fragment. The Soul Split makes it so she can have two working bodies instead of one, and while both take damage separately, the death of one body results in the death of the other. That is why Cornelia rarely distances the two from each other unless it's really necessary. When within 20 feet of one another, her magic and physical prowess is at its peak, but it diminishes the further her two bodies are from one another. Although her vampiric nature makes even an isolated body powerful to take on mortals, she makes sure not to fight with one body alone.

The two share the same mind, so Cornelia can think and do actions simultaneously for each body, the only difference is their appearance and aspects of her personality being more prominent in a certain body.

### Magic

Centuries of study has made her a formidable magus, more so when it comes to combat. Her Vampiric physique amplified with spells like Reinforcement and Alteration can turn her into a deadly close-quarters combatant. She could rip out the spines of lesser vampires or humans without effort and then proceed to turn them into sharpened missile launched back at her other opponents. Her position as the Marshall of the Hermetica Covenant was well earned thanks to her expertise in magical combat and martial arts, as well as her penchant for tactics as well. Outside of Combat, she is also an expert in theoretical and experimental magic, including the manipulation of souls through Paradoxcraft, seeing as she herself is a walking paradox, "multiple but one", her most commonly used soul magic is storing the souls of victims in containers that are not their bodies, from gems to bottles, and using them as fuel for magic spells or artifact enchantments.

### Artifacts

#### Sanguine Crown

A floating crown similar to a halo, the Sanguine Crown is a magical artifact crfted by Cornelia using the blood of several slain Barons and Baronesses, Kindred who she fought and defeated throughout her career. The Crown prevents her body from mutating into the more monstrous forms normal Sanguine Vampires undergo. Only one of her bodies has to wear it, and it's usually her cold side.

#### Brush of Theia,

A powerful artifact that draws out more power from the Progenitor's influence from the blood of its vampiric wielder, and allows her to manipulate and transmute blood into a liquid or solid state and turning them into weapons or defenses. For this reason, she usually carries vials and containers of the blood of magical creatures as "ammo". It is also used to take control of the minds of lesser vampires that do not possess the willpower to resist it, allowing Cornelia to easily control any insubordinate members of her vampiric clan or enemy whelps.