Name: Reine Sainte Croix
Nickname/s:
Species: Human
Age: 22
Gender: Female
Hometown: Marseille, France
Current Residence: Durron House
Studying: Economics (Third Year)
Employment: N/A
Family: Father; Jean Sainte Croix, Mother; Clarice Berger-Paget, Brother; Arnaud Sainte Croix (missing, presumed deceased)
Friends: Franz and Elsa Richter, Dr. Ji-Woon Kim
Relationship: N/A
Player: Kate
Contact Email: nibi.nekomata@gmail.com
Model: Adi Neumann
Credit: Supermodels.nl
Background
Reine was born in the port city of Marseille, in the south of France. Her father presided over a large shipbuilding corporation that had been handed down the family line since the 19th century. She grew up in affluence with her brother Arnaud, her elder by seven years, and both attended Catholic school in Marseille before Arnaud applied to university. Both siblings grew up with English as their second language, learning it in school as well as in private lessons insisted upon by their mother. Arnaud had developed a deep interest in the language and had applied to an English university in hopes of studying English literature. Having never been parted for such a time and such a distance, Reine was vocally upset. Despite the age difference, Arnaud was always caring and patient with her, and she looked up to her brother more than anyone else. He attempted to console her, but as the summer ended he left Marseille for the University of Reading without resolving their quarrel. Reine became increasingly moody as the fall wore on, acting out in school and misbehaving enough to make her parents send for a child psychologist. The diagnosis was early adolescent bipolar disorder; the absence of her brother had unbalanced her and exacerbated the symptoms. She was written a prescription for lithium and her parents considered their problems over. One month later, Arnaud went missing in Reading.
The day the call came, Reine looked through every drawer in her room to find the silver crucifix pendant Arnaud had given her for her birthday in August; she had thrown it across the room angrily the morning he left for the airport. The two days following his disappearance, she slept in his room with the pendant every night. On the third night, she lay asleep in Arnaud’s bed, waking at the sound of glass breaking downstairs. Minutes later, the door fell open and Arnaud lurched in from the hallway, clothes ratty and face unshaven. When he saw she was there, he began to shout at her, broken sentences about how he was dangerous and that she wasn’t safe. He clutched a thick bandage on his arm and grimaced in pain. Sleepy and confused at his behaviors, still she ran to embrace him, but he pushed her away violently. He began to writhe and twist, falling to his knees on the floor and yelling. Reine stumbled again to touch him, crying. His eyes had turned feral and had begun to yellow, and his skin had started to split. She screamed and Arnaud-who-was-not-Arnaud grabbed her neck to strangle her. He yelped and tore his hands away from the silver pendant around her throat. Reine could only see blurry shapes through her tears; when she wiped them away a huge black dog was crouching and snarling on the floor. A sound like an explosion ripped through the air, and the dog slammed into the opposite wall. Her father stood in the doorway with a hunting rifle, loading another shot. The animal wasn’t moving and blood was splattered all over the carpet. Some her father’s security staff came in minutes later with garbage bags and pried her out from underneath the bed. All night long, only one car left the manor; in the morning it came back smelling like blood and sea salt. Reine’s parents never talked about Arnaud again.
After the incident, Reine was despondent, her appetite withered, and her schoolwork suffered increasingly. Finally, her parents took her off the drugs prescribed by the psychologist and sent her away to boarding school in Switzerland, hoping that the change of atmosphere would reinvigorate her. By fourteen, Reine had fallen in with less-than-wholesome classmates and began a self-destructive chain of underage drinking, illegal drugs, and sexual promiscuity that nearly led to her expulsion. Her only productive activity during this period was the school fencing team, which she attended sporadically. The violence of it soothed her and redirected her energy, and she began to spend increasing amounts of time at practice.
At sixteen, news of her parent’s divorce back in France exhumed all of the confusion and trauma from Arnaud’s disappearance, and Reine began to fall back into her old habits. Just before the Christmas holiday she withdrew 5,000 Dutch gulden from her parent’s bank account and hopped on a train to Amsterdam. One night nearly a week later, a group of hunters pulled a young vampire off her in an alleyway not far from a nightclub. Reine was so full of alcohol and cocaine that she barely noticed his eyes turning silver and his teeth in her neck. She woke up sober and wound aching in a ratty apartment off the red light district. The first question she asked when she came to was whether or not he had turned into a wolf; for the first time since the incident, Reine was told the truth.
The knowledge validated her suffering, allowed her to reassure herself she wasn’t going crazy. She latched onto the three hunters who had saved her, desperate for more information, more insight into their lives. The group consisted of an older German couple and middle-aged Korean doctor; they had been following a chain of murders around the European nightclub scene. She was told that vampires had been the culprits. All three were reluctant to allow Reine to participate, especially Elsa Richter, who saw her destructive habits as irresponsible and untrustworthy. However, Reine felt that she had found a purpose and pleaded to be taken in. She struck a deal; if she cleaned up, went back to school and focused on graduating, they would train her as a hunter. That very night Reine telephoned her frantic mother, asking for a train ticket.
She caught up and excelled in nearly all of her classes. She resumed practice with the fencing team, even entering competitions. She was a bridesmaid the summer her mother remarried. Two weeks after graduation, Reine received a letter from Franz Richter. Relying on her parents’ social obligations to keep them from asking too many questions, she made up a story about an internship and packed her bags for Moscow. For two years she trained with the Richters and Dr. Kim as they worked on dismantling a multi-clan shapeshifter smuggling ring. When the job was finished, Reine announced her intention to pursue her brother’s killers. They warned her of the dangers of hunting alone, but she was determined to go to Reading and find out exactly what had happened eight years ago. The Richters owned a small dog breeding business in Germany, and Elsa insisted Reine should take at least one. The night of Arnaud’s transformation had left her with an intense phobia of large dogs, but after weeks of Dr. Kim’s insistence that she would be unable to hunt unless she conquered her fear, Reine acquiesced. She entered the University of Reading to study Economics the year she turned twenty, with two Borzoi (Julius and Augustus), a Norwegian Elkhound (Nero), and one clear goal.
She has been picking up leads on inhuman activity in the area for nearly two years, and has recently returned to England from Benin, where she was assisting another hunter (Yannick Isola) with the removal of an old and dangerous vampire. A friend of the Richters has contacted Reine about her nephew, another hunter who moved to the area recently.
Physical Appearance
In both appearance and demeanor, Reine is notably reserved. Descended from old money and French haute culture, she takes the notion of “good breeding” very seriously. Reine prefers clean lines and classic forms. Her figure lacks many distinguished curves and she’s adapted her style to reflect this, rather than conceal it. Reine stands taller than average and uses her long legs to her advantage. She usually wears boots, preferably cut knee-high or higher, and has no trouble functioning in stiletto heels. For more physically demanding tasks she’ll dress down somewhat, but she’ll go for a tastefully short skirt whenever possible. Her long auburn hair is cut conservatively and her eyes are pale gray, though she tends to apply dark eye makeup to better define them.
Her body language accentuates her composure; direct eye contact, very subdued gestures, and physical grace all add to her aura of restraint. These, in conjunction with her upfront, often clipped, conversational patterns give Reine a particular haughtiness that may or may not be undeserved. Reine’s meticulous nature is easily observable in her physical appearance. Her hair is always styled, never messy, shoes are always shined and her clothes are always clean and pressed. She keeps her nails trimmed and polished in the traditional French manicure style. Most of her jewelry and accessories are silver and she rotates them as-needed with her outfits. The silver crucifix given to her by her brother, however, is around her neck at all hours of the day and night.
Personality
Reine is precise, methodical and very intelligent. These qualities allow her to function quite productively in normal situations, and quite dangerously in abnormal ones. She is quick to learn, although also quick to complain when she is unhappy with a situation. Reine is upfront about her opinions and has no patience with people who are not. She can focus intently on a matter, almost to the point of obsession, until said matter is resolved, and has a meticulous sense of detail that can be both wonderful and aggravating. She is generally reserved and will not initiate conversation or relations unless there is a benefit to her. She is also deliberately unaware of many of her own faults. By concentrating on outward matters, Reine avoids confronting conflicts and insecurities within herself. Subconsciously, there is a lot more going on in Reine’s head than she’ll ever admit to.
She has a somewhat addictive personality. In high school it took the form of the standard drugs, sex, and alcohol, and now has morphed into the many facets of her hunter’s lifestyle; perhaps most significantly is Reine’s unyielding drive for revenge of the Biblical variety. The single most dangerous weapon she possesses is her unwavering faith in the morality of what she is doing. Reine is, surprisingly, an idealist at heart and believes that she is wholly justified in her actions. Despite this conviction, a darker side of her occasionally emerges and she can enjoy hurting her marks just a little too much, particularly shapeshifters. Reine has grown used to the dogs Elsa assigned her, but she can be cruel and neglectful when she is emotionally distressed. She is still grappling with the difference between shapeshifters and actual animals, and so she doesn’t know how to feel towards the pets she keeps.
Talents & Weaknesses
When hunting a mark, Reine can be extremely patient. Her perfectionist side won’t abide an obvious assault, and every mark is painstakingly stalked and trapped. However, this can take a very long time in some cases and Reine often sacrifices expediency for cleanliness. She prefers ranged weapons, specifically firearms, and is well versed in handling and caring for the miniature arsenal she keeps. She dislikes getting her hands dirty, but in sticky situations can rely on her skill with a saber. Reine studied in the Fujian White Crane style of kung-fu during her time in Eastern Europe with Dr. Kim, focusing mostly on defensive maneuvers. She understands that in close-combat she would be no match for the enhanced strength of a vampire of shapeshifter, so she prefers to play it safe. There are moments when, especially if she’s been reminded of Arnaud in some way, Reine will be more interested in causing pain than actually killing her mark. When the hunt becomes more about vengeance than hunting, Reine opens herself up to mistakes and errors she probably wouldn’t make in a less emotional mindset. Reine focuses on the present and the future; she hates talking about her past, her brother, or her parents, and will often lose focus or composure if she’s forced to dwell on them. She still has a phobia of dogs, but it is much less intense than before.
Reine is quite adept with languages and is able to find patterns easily. Economics is her major academic focus and her intellectual skills are well suited towards it. It offers enough of a challenge to be interesting, but she is skilled enough that her schoolwork doesn’t interfere with her extra-curricular activities. As for legitimate school organizations or clubs, with the exception of the fencing team, Reine prefers to remain uninvolved. She doesn’t have friends so much as acquaintances, and though she subconsciously enjoys the company of others, her intent focus on her goals and her less than forgiving attitude doesn’t encourage others to get close.
