Name: Olwyn Rees
Nickname/s: Ollie
Species: Witch
Primary Power: Tracker
Coven: Hawthorn Coven
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Hometown: Conwy, Wales, UK
Current Residence: Hawthorn House
Studying: Undergraduate - 3rd Year - Criminology
Employment: Clerk in a private law firm
Family: Father - Cadfael Rees; Mother - Blodeuedd Rees
Friends: Jeffrey Cartwell
Relationship: Branwen Pritchard (fiance - deceased)

Player: Illa
Contact Email: gemwren84@yahoo.com
Model: Ash
Credit: Storm Models

Background

Olwyn Rees was born and raised in Conwy, Wales, of Cadfael and Blodeuedd Rees, witches of the local coven. He had grown up within the coven and was supported by coven and parents in everything he did (to an extent). He attended regular primary school as a boy and secondary school as a young man. He had always had a desire to learn, even at a young age, his parents encouraging his curiosity at each and every turn. It hadn't been a perfect life, but it was as close as most people he knew had come to. Aside from the expected and normal scuffles over his size and strange background, Olwyn didn't collide too often with the rest of the world. Until he grew into a young man, his life was fairly uneventful, with a strong base and strong relationships with his family (his coven). When he began going through the changes of puberty, Olwyn came into his own primary power of tracking. He would learn, over the years, the natural powers and manipulation of his personal energy, that every witch must learn eventually, but he enjoyed doing what came easiest to him: the tracking of supernatural powers and their usage. As he matured in his teen years, this would often lead him into some unforeseen situations with unexpected consequences.

There was the time he had been on vacation visiting relatives in Liverpool, England, during which he made the acquaintance of his first vampire. The young man, Olwyn Rees, had been celebrating the full moon one night on a beach near his relatives' residence. He had thought himself alone, until he got caught up in sudden, powerful energy waves. His curiosity, having always gotten the best of him, would lead him to track down the source of the energy and power: a vampire using their powers to discourage a few thugs who had meant to harm and rob him. When the trio of criminal minds had finally fled down some dark alleyway, the young witch made his presence known to the vampire, explaining he had never come across one such as he, before. Olwyn had been quite frightened of the creature, at first. He could feel how powerful the vampire was and he began to wonder how wise he had been to follow the energy waves that had distracted him from his solitary ceremony.

The vampire turned out to be quite friendly and rather delighted to make the acquaintance of someone he did not have to hide his true nature from. The tworeturned to the beach, talking, sharing stories and becoming fast friends. They would meet up several times during Olwyn's summer stay in Liverpool and exchange contact information when he had to return to Conwy and school. The strange duo of witch and vampire would remain the best of friends up andthrough present time. It was Jeffrey who would help Olwyn get through the death of his fiance, the beautiful and vibrant Branwen Pritchard, a girl from Olwyn's coven whom he'd grown up with. They had always been as close as siblings and best friends as children. When they began secondary school together, Branwen had blossomed from a petite, almost waif-like girl to a curvy, gorgeous young woman. It was only natural that the two witches, as close as they had always been, would go sweet on each other. They began to spend much of their time together and fell deeply in love. When it came time for them to go to university, they had made plans to attend Reading University together. Both were excepted as they had always excelled in academics with flying colors and things were going great. Olwyn proposed to Branwen on the eve they had received news of their acceptance. The coven and their families couldn't have been happier.

Then tragedy struck.

Branwen, an earth witch, had been out on one of the many walks she always enjoyed taking when the sun was shining perfectly upon the land. Normally, Olwyn would have accompanied her, but he found himself busy packing and clearing up last minute details, leaving her to herself, which she enjoyed tremendously. He would live to regret his decision not to go for the walk with the love of his life. Branwen's body had been found by a couple coven members late that evening and their findings clearly pointed to a ragtag group of new hunters. The work had been sloppy, at best and clearly amateurish and daring, at the worst. Olwyn and a couple of senior coven members would track down the young hunters, who seemed to lack a real leader and any solid base. As witches, they weren't strong enough, even against amateurs, to take down the hunting party, but this is where Olwyn's connections would come into play. Jeffrey and a mixed group of vampires and werewolves, would, with the coven's tracking, locate and decimate the group of hunters. For the vampires and shapeshifters, this proved to be quite an easy task due to their lack of leadership and experience. But the worst damage had already been done and they couldn't bring Branwen back. Olwyn would take comfort in Jeffrey's companionship for the next month or so before he left to attend Reading University as planned. The vampire healed the Welshman with friendship and love as best as he could, the witch coming back a bit more into the man he had been, though wounded and forever recovering from his loss.

Olwyn and Jeffrey would become closer during his mourning period, even becoming intimate on occasion, but when Olwyn decided to leave for university, the vampire didn't hold him back. They would write letters during the school semester and the witch would visit during summer vacations. However, Olwyn would never be quite the same after his fiance's death and never exchanged serious declarations of feelings with the vampire. And though Jeffrey considers Olwyn his only love, he doesn't ask for anything in return or press the witch for commitment. At Reading University, Olwyn keeps friends within the supernatural community alone. Though he is friendly with humans, he distrusts them completely as one would never know who was the hunter until it was too late. He holds a dangerous grudge against all hunters and with the recent deaths, has joined the vigilantes who are determined to track them down and deliver their own justice.

Physical Appearance

For being small in size, Olwyn carries himself with the confidence and self-assuredness of someone twice his size. This makes him hard to intimidate with size alone. The witch is quite a few inches below his father's 6-foot height and weighs little more than his mother's 125-pounds. Being a witch didn't help him much as far as physical strength and prowess goes. As a boy growing up in Wales, Olwyn was forced to learn at an early age to dissuade other boys frompicking on him. He picked up skills in weaponry (mainly whatever he found available in the situation of the moment) and learned how to use an opponent's size against them. This made him a small, but wily fighter when he had to be; though it wouldn't help him against an opponent with skill in fighting or supernatural power or strength. Olwyn is by no means muscular and relies on his wit and natural instincts to help him out in situations in which he might otherwise not walk away in one piece.

And he enjoys playing off of his natural coloring, such as the dark, black beady eyes and the bushel of reddish-brown hair, which bring to most minds the image of a sly, wily fox. The Welshman's personal fashion sense has always been a bit off from the "in" fashions around him, but it has never seemed to truly bother him. He has always been extremely comfortable in his own skin, thanks to growing up with the security of his coven and his parents' encouragement and strength that he was fortunate to inherit. Olwyn enjoys standing out, though he is far from tacky in his fashion sense; as far as he is concerned, that is. Some might consider his style a bit "emo" at times, some wouldn't agree. He enjoys knit sweaters and jeans, Doc Martens and Converse, button-up suits and rock & roll apparel. Olwyn could never adhere to one style or another, dressing as his mood and the atmosphere dictates as naturally as he does anything else. He has never gone through the who-am-i, hate-myself phase and would never allow anyone else's opinion of him dictate the way he sees himself.

Personality

Before his fiance's death, Olwyn didn't have a depressed bone in his body. He'd always been a pretty happy-go-lucky kid, albeit strange to his schoolmates. He was a people person, very friendly and out-going, never fearful of strangers or the bullies who tried to pick on him. Olwyn never had a problem standing up for himself or the things he believed in most. Most of his closest friends were a part of the world he was born into - witches, Jeffrey, even a shapeshifter or two. But, until Branwen's murder by a group of hunters, Olwyn even made friends from the human communities in which he resided or visited. He made sure never to let the two worlds he moved through, collide. He straddled a delicate line between the blind, human world and the supernatural world in which he could be completely himself. The Welshman never had a problem toeing the line between the two and, in fact, enjoyed the challenge if often presented him. He liked that he led a secret existance amongst the world the preternatural community shared with the humans who were blind to the power around them. As a kid, he had often pretended to be a spy among his human friends for the fun of it.

When Branwen was killed, everything about Olwyn changed, for the most part. He cut off all contact with his human acqaintances and that part of the world which he had previously inhabited. He now surrounds himself, socially, solely with those of the secret world he was born into. He is mistrustful of all humans and though friendly enough with classmates, refuses to socialize outside of school with them. He keeps to his coven and the friends he has made among the vampires and shapeshifters from Reading University and from Conwy, Wales. He has become brooding and depressive, preferring his solitude to social activities. He still does not possess a mean bone in his body, but he isn't as out-going as he once was. The young man focuses on his studies and things involving his own coven and its safety. Olwyn is also determined to take out the hunters that are believed to be plaguing the campus and also believed to be responsible for the recent deaths. He has no room for personal, intimate relationships, with the exception of his vampire lover, Jeffrey and has gotten quite good at rebuffing advances by females, human or otherwise, with polite and respectful tactfulness.

Talents & Weaknesses

Olwyn Rees' major weakness lies in his mistrust of the humans and the hunters that bred them. This can cause him to come off as a little defensive (or offensive) to humans, at times and leaves him open to being manipulated against them by those he does trust within the preternatural community. As he has yet to heal from his fiance's death, he holds onto the pain like a cancer. He is very vocal about his feelings on hunters, though he is wise enough to avoid doing so in front of humans or those whom he knows are against that sort of thinking.

As a tracker, he has a lot of talent in his primary area of power. He was lucky to have been born into and raised up in a coven and have the support of senior witches from his beginning. His tracking is what led to several close friendships with vampires and other witches outside of his birth coven. It doesn't come in as handy when attempting to track a hunter, especially as hunters are human and tend to dislike cooperating with anything supernatural. As a young child, he had a hard time being too close to those using magick as he could not, as of yet, block it out. It was an overwhelming experience that had led him to fear what he was until his coven helped him learn control. Once he was able to control the input of magick around him, Olwyn grew to enjoy his own power. He and Branwen often played games of their own, unique "hide-n-seek", where she would move from one hiding place to another, doing a bit of her own particular magick, which consisted of manipulating the earth in different areas, either to hide herself or throw off Olwyn. Sometimes, the other witch children jumped in as well, confusing the young tracker. He grew better at the game as he got older and learned to distinguish the separate powers of his friends.

Being a witch, he was naturally not of strong stock, but he learned to be a fighter and use his environment and surroundings to his own advantage. His parents, though against their own beliefs, enrolled him in Judo to learn how to defend himself against those stronger than himself. He would later enroll himself in a Jujutsu dojo to increase his defensive skill. Unfortunately, he is quite willing to be the attacker if he came across a hunter. Olwyn fears his mortal weakness and the disadvantage it puts him at in the preternatural world. At times, he can overcompensate with attitude or using his skills that should be used to defend, to attack. He cannot drink, because when inebriated, he can become belligerant, even violent, towards humans and is not above picking pointless fights with innocent human bystanders. His friends believe this reaction is due to his feelings of insecurity stemming from his fiance's death. He regrets not having been there for her, but he realizes that he might have been too weak to truly help her or survive himself.