María Ascensión de Pozoblanca

Background

María Ascensión was found as a baby (somewhere between 1-2 years old) on the steps of a rural church in FF Castile-La Mancha, along with a small intricately filigreed box which, it was assumed, was a keepsake left behind by the parents who were sadly unable to care for her. She was then raised in the church, spending her childhood at a convent in Pozoblanca. From the time that she could speak and read, she was extremely devoted to the Creed. She spent hours a day in prayer, eagerly prostrated herself before the [FF Catholic religious symbol], and threw herself into the study of even the most esoteric rites and rituals. In her free time she studied anatomy, medicine and history in the convent library. She was considered something of a prodigy, and was called to Córdoba to be ordained while still a teenager. Despite her youth she rose quickly through the ranks of the Creed to a position in the Inquisition, in part due to her knowledge of 'applied anatomy'. And if the powers the Creator granted her were a little unusual, it was surely in service to the Inquisition's divine mandate.

After a few years with the Inquisition, she felt called to broaden her experiences and bring the will and word of the creator to less civilized parts of the continent. She left Córdoba (on good terms) and travelled as a penitent sister surviving on alms, until she chanced to come across the aftermath of a battle involving [our company] and [some dinguses]. As she beheld the suffering of the wounded and the dying, she knew that this was an environment where she could put her skills to good use, and offered her services to Jorge as a surgeon and healer for the company. Once again the unorthodox presentation of her powers was outweighed by her skill and utility to the group. To all appearances she is extremely pious, spending hours each day in prayer in her tent.

Well, that's the common knowledge, anyway.

In fact Ascensión is Descended from Chain Devils/Cenobites, with whom she has had communications as far back as she can remember (though with varying frequency). Her parents came to believe she was either possessed or cursed, and abandoned her on the Church steps along with the cursed artefact that had one day appeared in her cot. Ascensión fully believes in the divinity of her ancestors and their god Leviathan, and that she may one day earn the right to ascend and claim her true form. The Creed, with its love of devotions, penance, and punishment, provided her a perfect place to hide her deviance in plain sight; and continues to do so.

Appearance

Ascensión is a pale, human-appearing woman with black eyes, and without any visible hair. She dresses in black robes of heavy fabric and leather, accented with red, and is always covered except for her head and hands when seen outside her tent. This is because underneath these robes her skin is covered with cuts of varying freshness, meticulously carved in patterns matching the reliquary she carries; she has thus far kept this concealed from the company.

Goals

To continue to hide within the Creed for as long as possible.

To secretly grow the cult of Leviathan.

To ascend to 'divinity' as a Cenobite.

Personality

Ascensión has a pretty intense manner and is a bit of a know it all. She's not anti-social but she doesn't go out of her way to make friends either. She enjoys strategy games, such as dragon chess; and her [known] hobbies are needle- and leatherworking.

Quirks

When Ascensión heals someone it is actually very painful, as if the nerve endings were restored first and made to feel everything being knitted back together.

Her robes are lined with pins and such in various locations which keep her at a constant level of pain.

She has never admitted nor explicitly denied being a Descendant. Players are free to have their characters assume what they wish. :)