Hortense Hookclaw

[nikki]

Name: Hortense Hookclaw
Gender: Female
Age: 20
Species: Black Rat
Occupation: Tracker

Physical Appearance:
A slim and elegant ratmaid, Hortense is an active, ready beast with a perpetual friendly smile and the lean muscles of a runner beneath soft, thick silver fur. Large, longlashed cornflower blue eyes and long, carefully kept white whiskers dominate a narrow, pretty face with daintily pierced ears bearing two silver hoops each. Her tail is roughly as long as her body, the hairless pink skin tattooed with interlocking flower designs in a blue to match her eyes; her paws are also pink, and tipped in nails trimmed sharp.

Hortense is extremely proud of her coloring, and wears as little clothing as she can get away with. Her only common items are a dark gray cloak to conceal her highly visible pelt when tracking, and a knife belt capable of holding up to seven knives or similar items. A great lover of jewelry, Hortense will wear what she can when she can; aside from her earrings, she nearly always wears a silver tailband, and she will at least take any jewelry offered to her though she may not always wear it due to a common need for stealth. Confident in bearing and always perfectly groomed to suit her vanity, Hortense cuts a striking figure at all times, and cultivates a charming air to put those around her at ease.

Possessions:
Tailband: Plain, unadorned silver, a family heirloom she keeps for beauty rather than sentiment.

Knifebelt: Made of snakeskin dappled gold and black, this can hold seven knives or similar weapons, and always holds Hortense's favored dirk and hook in prime positions.

Personality:
Sweet, charming, and comradely, Hortense is the maid everyone wants on their side. Always smiling and usually with a kind word, she is a charmer who makes friends everywhere she goes and makes a loyal and sympathetic companion. Good-natured and cheerful, Hortense can be counted on at any time, and is a beast to support and be supported by.

That is the face she presents to the world.

In truth, Hortense's sweetness is a carefully cultivated act. Calculating and ambitious, Hortense is all but incapable of feeling for another beast in a meaningful fashion. The center of her own universe, Hortense only understands and cares for her own feelings - and in fact, she does not truly grasp the fact that other beasts even have feelings. Cunning and foresightful, she uses her natural charm and beauty to advance her own ambitions. Hortense will be a captain or better, and she cares not who she has to manipulate on the way.

After all, they're only tools to admire her, help her, and get her what she wants.

Strengths:
Charismatic: Pretty, charming, and well aware of it, she uses a sweet demeanor to lure other creatures to her side.

Knife Fighter: Highly competent with her dirk and hook, she is a dangerous closerange fighter.

Scout/Tracker: Versed in woodlore, Hortense is a highly competent tracker by land. Taught the art from a young age, she followed in her father's tailmarks and was trained to be one of the best frontrunners her age.

Quick Climber: A skilled climber like all black rats, Hortense can move nimbly in trees or rigging.

Weaknesses:
Nearsighted: Hortense is, simply put, nearsighted. She cannot clearly see more than a few feet in front of her, which is a secret she guards obsessively.

Cannot Swim: Just what it sounds like - she can paddle just enough to keep her snout up, but not for long, and she's not getting far.

Lack of Empathy: Incapable of feeling for another beast or connecting with them on a meaningful level. In her mind, there is truly only Hortense, and her relationships are imitations based on observing more normal creatures.

History:
Born to roving shorebeasts of the lands between Salamandastron and the North Coast, Hortense was the daughter of a tracker for hire and a healer. Her palely shimmering coat was seen as a good omen by the superstitious vermin of their ramshackle band; as such, much was made of her from birth, and she grew up adoring the attention. Hortense was, to superstitious eyes, marked for greatness and leadership; she took this to heart, and swiftly learned to use pretty smiles and sweet tones to keep the favor of other beasts.

Under her father's tutelage, Hortense began to learn the art of tracking and scouting, aiming toward becoming so skilled few could hide from her; from the fighting beasts of the group, she learned the art of the knife, learning to favor a hooked weapon that allowed her to snare and haul victims into her dirk.

Then she turned ten, and her sister Hazel was born.

Hazel bore the same silver coat as Hortense, and the same fuss was raised over the infant. Hortense, outraged at having attention that was rightfully hers devoted, hated the babe; for the first few years of Hazel's life Hortense seethed, wishing some illness or accident or rival band would befall her sister. In time, though, Hazel grew old enough to idolize her older sister. Worshipped again, Hortense relaxed, and began using her charm and passive aggressive needling to be sure the maid stayed under her paw. Her parents had lost control of Hortense; there was little they could do but be grateful Hortense no longer wished harm on her little minion.

So it went, with Hortense charming the band to her with her own natural charisma and her devoted sister's aid. Only a few older, stronger rats stood between Hortense and supremacy now; thus, at age twenty, she decided to lead those elders onto North Coast Otters, beasts she knew would eliminate any rat they saw.

She miscalculated. Instead of the elders she wished to eliminate, the otters stumbled onto the entire band. It was a massacre; Hortense, not willing to stand and fight, fled her doomed group with only her sister managing to escape and follow. Still, once she escaped Hortense was not unduly bothered. They had all only been tools, after all, steps on her path despite all the friendly words and gestures she'd made over the years; there would be other tools, with her sister and her charm to draw them in, and Hortense would use anybeast that presented themselves to gain the exalted position that was rightfully hers.

All she needs now is to find the beasts to begin her path to greatness anew.

Relationships:
Hazel Hookclaw: Hortense's ten-year-old sister is the closest thing she has to a loving relationship; she knows her charming and totally submissive sister's uses well, and keeps the little maid at her side for any opportunity to put her to good use.)

[Tracy]

Accepted.