Ghislaine

## Application Sheet

Ghislaine was a dark red-furred she-wolf with flame orange eyes. Given to Vektren as payment for a contract when she was just a pup, she was raised as Vieste's adoptive daughter, alongside another, Morrigan. She became a high-ranking Scythe, and bore two pups to revive Vektren after the war with Aryn. She took Thayer as a mate, and had his sons: Aubrey and Leslie. After they became adults, she vanished from the pack, and hasn't been seen since. She was created and RP'd by Uniskorne.

## Personality

* ***Attentive*.** Blood on the wind? Whispers in the dark? Ghis has learned to pay attention to even the faintest change in her world, as the answers come not in howls but in sighs.
* ***Somber*.** Hers is a world of servitude to a Dark Mother. With heretics behind every tree outside of Vektren, there's little time for joviality. As such, Ghis rarely smiles. If she does, it isn’t a good sign.
* ***Hungry*.** Ghis knew she came from nothing and was no one, so she worked her way up the proverbial ladder to a position of respect. However, there's no time to get lazy or comfortable with what blood earned her (or what her Mother gave her). You might feast one day and starve the next, and that goes for being known by your pack, as well.
* ***Tough*.** The fight didn't end when the Red Scythe came into her own. Though no one physically challenges her anymore, Ghis knows that the real fight is now with the heretics outside of Vektren. She held her own (for the most part) against the Bear of Aryn, and she makes sure the next Maggot she faces falls to her as well.
* ***Loyal*.** This is her pack now. She can’t remember any other, and, as her parents left her, this might as well be her family, too. So far, she hasn’t been mistreated, so she sees no reason not to listen, obey, fight, and, yes, kill for them.
* ***Sociopathic*.** It’s all there already, all the signs clear: Ghis has the start of being a sociopath. Not one of the good ones, either. She’s highly intelligent, lacks shame, and her interpersonal relationships are marked with superficial charm, unrelatability, and emotional unresponsiveness. She’s also learning how to lie, mostly about her feelings, but it’s a start.
* ***Zealous*.** The Dark Mother is wise and protects Her children. Ghis has felt Her breath upon her back and her Her whispering words of encouragement when blood flowed. The red wolf owes Her life to the Shadows, and, to the Shadows, the young Scythe gives fealty.

## Pre-Group History

Ghislaine knows nothing of her past except that she was payment for services rendered. Nothing further has been told to her—no descriptions of her parents or her birth pack, no information about the agreement that saw her as indemnification. Her first real memories are of Vektren and the 'dark' wolves who inhabit the dangerous, shadowy land. Maybe she has consciously forgotten the few months before she was given to this pack, realizing that lingering on the past won't help her and that her identity before means nothing to this group of assassins and thieves. So, in Ghis's mind, she was born the day she was given to Vektren. End of story.

## Group History

Ghislaine was raised by Vieste, alongside an older she-pup named Morrigan, who Vieste had also taken as adoptive charge. There were an abundance of puppies around the two 'sisters' as they grew up, including Acheron, another "payment" to Vektren, in the care of Miron and Eztli; Damon and Demogorgon, children of Solitaire, who were being raised by Hellion; and, of course, the Mistress of Vektren's brood of pups, Hestia, Orpheus, Helh, and Phaeton. Ghis wasn't as playful as the others, and was didn't connect to any of them particularly closely.

What she liked about her adoptive mother was that she didn't have to emote with her. Vieste assured Ghislaine that she didn't need to "force emotions", or act the way other pups did, and so she was pleased to be Vieste's charge. She could be herself without having to try fitting in - Vie accepted her as she was. Soon enough, the other pups would, too.

She and Helh got off to a bit of a rocky start, with Ghislaine insulting the white she-wolf and not playing properly, but she had ideas for how Helh could improve her fighting skills. She suggested that Helh practice running and jumping before working on her tackling, since she wasn't big enough to do any effective attacks on Ghis, who was slightly larger. In turn, Helh offered to teach Ghis how to play properly. Ghis decided that Helh would be a "friend", deducing that friends were just "someone you hated less" than others.

Shortly after she became a juvenile, Ghislaine set about becoming a Scythe, after learning about the task from Shirubafurea, who inspired her. She was quick and efficient at hunting, and Vieste soon introduced her to the art of assassination. She invited her daughter to come with her to take care of a loner that had been lingering around the edge of the swamp. For the first time in her life, Ghis felt the rush of emotion, excitement, and even a sense of *accomplishment* from killing the interloper and taking the heart. Vieste was pleased with her daughter's willingness to perform these duties for the Night Mother.

She met one of the pack's newest Necrolytes, Thayer. She didn't think much of him at first. However, when she learned of the power associated with his position, she became instantly curious, and asked to learn more, curious about how she could get *favors* from the wolves with so much power. He thought he saw some real talent in the young red she-wolf.

And she would come to trust Thayer. Or, at least, almost trust him. And she wanted him to teach her something, another tool she could use to manipulate others: the art of seduction. Thayer was more than willing to teach her, though he was amused by her initial attempts at flirtation.

Ghis continued to serve Vektren as war raged with Aryn. She went to the pits where Nero, Tzuriel, and Raghaalr were being kept as prisoners, and was thrilled at the chance to have a little 'fun' with Raghaalr, taunting the warrior she-wolf in the cruelest ways she could think of before departing.

Her fun with the prisoners would come to an end. Raghaalr was released, along with her packmates, and soon, Vektren fell victim to plagues. Vieste caught the sickness, and instructed Ghislaine to dispose of meat captured in the territory, but fell victim to a seizure in the midst of her discussion. Ghislaine believed the seizure to be Vieste receiving a message from the gods. Vieste was outraged at Ghislaine's 'uselessness', and snapped that it wasn't the gods, and that she needed to tend to her weaker packmates, and *not* be a disappointment, a stain on Vieste's reputation.

While she was not sickened in the first plague, her efforts to find a solution would be stopped by the second plague. She was one of five wolves put in critical condition by the water hemlock poisoning, along with Seraph, Damon, Epione, and Shirubafurea. She lost almost all of her fur, and was covered in scabs. Her family were worried she wouldn't survive.

By the will of the gods, perhaps, Ghislaine survived this horrendous sickness. While at her weakest, though, Vektren faced its final plague - three days of darkness. She went positively insane, lashing out at Monty, who, realizing that she was mentally sick, suggested she be isolated in the Pits. She needed *help.* Unfortunately, her insanity was worsened by the Pits. Ghislaine, believing that she had been chosen by the gods as a sacrifice, began self-mutilating to offer them the blood they so desired. The wolves chosen to keep an eye on her stopped her after her mutilations began to grow severe, admonishing her theosophical ravings and claiming that the gods wouldn't choose *her*, a Delta, as a noble sacrifice.

Once she was well enough to leave the Pits, Ghislaine set about improving herself. She would be the highest ranking Scythe, she decided - she would be the best for Vektren. And now, *now* was the time to get what she wanted: another chance to kill. She and Epione were tasked with slaying Raghaalr, who, after being freed, had tried to join Raphael's patrol to go retrieve Alcatraz and Athena's hearts.

Ghis was arrogant, and fell to taunting Raghaalr, even exposing her neck to the Arynian to deliver a death-bite. Raghaalr would have done it, too, if Epione hadn't stepped in and stopped her, giving Ghis a chance to deliver a killing bite herself. Ghislaine realized the foolishness of her mockery of Raghaalr, thanked Epione for stepping in to save her, and collected the heart, promising Epione that she could call in one favor from Ghislaine, whenever she needed it.

She continued to visit Thayer, finding him the closest thing to a 'friend' she had. She was interested in his knowledge of herbs, for though he specialized in the connection between Vektren and the gods, he dabbled with herbs. Ghislaine asked if the herbs would help Vektren to have more pups - pups who were less flawed than Hekate's final litter with Janus (Ghis thought Helh's albinism and Phaeton being a 'moron' were birth defects). Thayer said they might help with incontinence, and to increase the pleasure of the act itself, but it was up to the gods what pups might come from such a union. Ghis was curious, and enjoyed the attention he gave her along with the herbs.

When her adoptive mother took on two more pups, Ivar and Eris (children of Vieste's mate Nimh and donor Kiero Koi), Ghislaine was instructed to talk to her new brother about Vektren. She felt a flicker of pride at his eager devotion to the Vektreni family, but warned him never to act with vengeance. Pride and wounds could mend, but a life lost in the act of blind rage was a waste to Vektren.

Ghis, of course, had plentiful pride in the wake of slaying Raghaalr. She hated that she had yet to be promoted to Theta, but felt fortunate that she could add "Slayer of the Aryn Bear" to her title, and did so in a conversation with Fornax. She described her opponent and the battle in vivid detail, eager to showcase her role in the Battle of Muckrun.

Again, she would be faced with an Arynian "bear" - this time, Leviathan. She, Ivar, and Vieste approached Aryn to discover Tzuriel, Leviathan, and Catalaya, and it fell to battle. Though both sides retreated, neither taking a prisoner nor ending a life, Ghis vowed that she would be responsible for slaying this new threat - a bigger threat than Raghaalr, the giant Levi.

Ghislaine was pitted against Vieste in battle, and was humiliated, defeated by the older she-wolf. She went to Thayer for some degree of consolation, and thought that, perhaps, she could get used to his affections. For the first time, she found herself actually *enjoying* his presence, connecting pleasure with her time with him in a similar way that she felt with her blood-fever, though to a much lesser degree.

Much to her disappointment, she found that these relations had consequences. Shortly after Vieste, Nimh, and her *adoptive sister* Morrigan had gotten pregnant, Ghislaine broke the news that she was expecting Thayer's pups. Vieste was delighted, and told Ghislaine that she was proud of her. This elicited a spark of joy in Ghis, and she indulged in a moment of familial affection with Vieste and her 'brothers', Ivar and Honi. Perhaps these pups wouldn't be so bad?

Thayer was certainly excited for the pups. When they arrived, Ghis saw that they were two red-furred males. They were named Aubrey and Leslie. She wasn't as affectionate a mother as Morrigan and Vieste, but the pups liked their mom well enough, and adored their father. Ghislaine took a shining to Titan, one of Morri's pups, who wanted to be a Scythe, and gave him some lessons as he aged.

His training wouldn't be finished with Ghislaine, though. Indeed, both Titan and Ghislaine vanished from Vektren, and nobody knows what became of her, for she hasn't been seen since.

## Trivia

* Ghislaine was not naturally prone to using terms of politeness and respect, but Vieste imparted on her daughter the importance of using these to get others to see you favorably, and more likely to do what you want.
* Ghis was prone to something she called "blood-fever", which was her sociopathic tendency to feel *alive* when thinking about, or committing, acts such as attacking or killing. It often overcame her when on missions, but she learned how to control it with time and experience, so she wouldn't lose her cunning and logical mind in the mist of bloodlust.

## Quotes

* “Are you blind or stupid? One is unavoidable; the other is inexcusable. I can only help you with one, so which is it?” (to Helh, *'Friends'*)
* “I’m new to all this. We hate Aryn--the maggots--but it was never quite explained why. I mean, they’re heretics, that’s enough, I guess, but I feel like...it’s a bit more personal than that. Back to you, though. Blood. You were denied. I’d be mad, too.” (trying to understand the gods, *Skin and Bones*)

## External Links

* Official Application Sheet
* Uniskorne's deviantART Gallery