T H E . D O V E . O F . W A R . {COL}

[fleetingfanfan]

Odilia Colombe, née d'Infer
xvii . Kirin Dejonckheere

"with my garments of stunning wrathwork ... and this war-lipp'd grin / you will not mistake me, never again-"

. B I O .

ode may look like a fairy character from a children's story, but her heart is like something an old cat spat up. growing up, she was always much more than her parents could handle. there have been many instances of "hysteria"- screaming her throat raw and clawing at her older sisters 'til blood ribboned down their pretty faces. there have been outbursts over dinner, bloody noses and palms, broken mirrors, and incautious behaviour in public very much unsuited to that of a good girl. odilia's parents, so desperate to make her someone else's problem, married her off to the first man who would have her despite the fact that she was barely out of her teens. besides, there was some clout to be had- the man wasn't just any man, he was the widower colombe. the colombes are the very founders of colombelles isle, the closest thing to royalty the isles have. vigor colombe is the very last of them, and catching his interest was perhaps the feat of the century on her father's part. of course, ode's...quirks were never mentioned to the widower, nor was she consulted on the matter of the union as her opinion actually mattered very little to her parents. it's been two weeks and two days since ode was wed to the widower, and since then, she's done little else other than sleep and avoid any friends that come to call on the new mistress of colombe house... at least, that is what it appears to the outsider. there is actually one person she still makes time to see- and it may be that odilia is plotting to commit her most heinous act yet.

. P e r s o n a l . S e a l .

A storm dove in gold-flecked golden wax is Vigor's seal- which Ode finds garish, and so, sneakily uses her purple-digitalis wax in sealing her notes to her companions. She also sets her seals with intricately-knotted strands of her own hair- something she learned from a certain lace-weaver.

. C U R R E N T .

F a n c i e s . "Susanna pet", snails (ode keeps a large snail named 'Devil May' like a lapdog, but she has others tucked around as well), citrus fruit (for chucking), annoying those who annoy her, breaking and rending (catharsis), wandering far, swanwalow pastries (though she is "forever disallowed" from the establishment), writing and recieving slavish love letters (she likes to add obscene drawings with hers), Tréphine's performances and voice, and Corpsey Carrion and the Cuntess ("those endearing demonesses of ours"), her intermittent self-imposed solitude, hammocking with a horror novel, being read to by her darling pet, truth or dare, dancing, sleeping, bawdy jokes, running/skipping and screaming along the isle's precipices

A b h o r r e n c e s . her parents- Mr. & Mrs. Infernal- and all their little brood of bores, the Widower (with all his stoicism and acquiescing, Ode's never met a more boring person in her life), being ignored/forgotten, being pressed and ordered about, waking at a reasonable hour, sheep, crowds, crowds of sheep, wool (the itch !), those smelly shepherd boys (with their pish feet and sweaty heads), the tomb-like House Colombe, badminton and lawn games ("I will scream if you make me play !"), harp music (for being forced into lessons by her mother)

D e s i r e (s) . O, Mother Lilith ! To see Susie Pet every moment she so wishes ! She desires the clothes to disappear from her wardrobe only to be miraculously replaced with piles of syrupy sweetgrass sugar buns. Ode would also enjoy getting some sort of reaction out of her annoyingly stoic husband.. [Or if he won't react to japery, maybe he will react to something pointy beneath his stubbly chin.] Would that she could be free of the Widower and flee Colombelles with Susanna and the other girls to live a new life- a fresh, new Chaos, perhaps as a professional sower of discord, if such a thing exists... She might make a fine boxer considering what she did to her sister's nose... More snails would be good too.

T r o u b l e (s) . Relatives, Husbands & Sheep. Odilia fears that the Widower has gained a strangle-grip on her existance more than anything- that he has a secret agenda to tame her into the desired little Mrs. Colombe she thinks he wants. If there was one thing she wasn't expecting, it was to be married off so suddenly, otherwise she would have made plans to flee sooner. In the same vein, Odilia has a paralysing fear of becoming with child and giving birth- to the point of grotesque nightmares.

R u m o u r s .

• i. When Catherine Edelgin fell over the isle's edge three years ago, Ode's older sister, Peronele- who had been close friends with the dead girl- told anyone who would hear her that, in fact, Catherine's death had not been an accident, but a murder perpetrated by her little sister Odilia (who was fifteen at the time). No one paid Peronele any serious attention then, but the rumour does persists to this day- that Odilia shoved a girl over a ledge once.

• ii. Within Ode's own family, there was an accusation routinely made by the late Infer matriarch that Odilia is actually a Colombe herself and not the child of the man she believes to be her father. Apparently, her paternal grandmother truly believed that Odilia's mother, Meresse, had been involved with the late Raollin Colombe (who happens to be the Widower's older brother). But Ode's of the strict opinion that her mother was always true to her father, and to make a point of it to the rest of the family, her parents pressed her into marrying the Widower (for what sort of villains would knowingly allow a child to marry her uncle ?). [Odilia has a good sense of humour about this rumour, while her parents most certainly do not. Leading up to the wedding, she did refer to the Widower as "Uncle Colombe" only to irritate them.]

. T Y P I C A L S .

W a r d r o b e . [Anything suitable for swift activity- that allows her to leg it the hell out of a rocky or sodden area.] Pre-Colombe it was the traditional, unmarried girls' whites and modest collars hand-done in bucolic embroidery and wool capelets and provencal straw hats for the storms. Post-Colombe, Ode's choices are broader but still confined to the wardrobe of a dead woman who apparently enjoyed being weighted down with heavy and expensive fabrics. Yes, she might just have to stick with light nightclothes and undergarments for the purpose of ease and crime- what the hell does she care anyway ?

S c e n t (s) . Earthen and forbidding, like something newly birthed from the soil, and half-charred like a smoking black petal. Lately, it's more like lightening struck her and now all anyone can smell is the powerful crackling of her skin- and the ozone fragrence of her disquiet energy.

P l a c e s . M o s t . L i k e l y . T o . B e . F o u n d . At the moment, in bed with gloom. But, customarily, Odilia is glued to the sides of one of her friends or she is out drifting by the ledges to avoid going home to her parents and sisters.

P e o p l e . M o s t . L i k e l y . T o . B e . W i t h . Married life has forced Odilia into spending a lot of time with the Widower, whom she finds mind-numbingly dull. However, if she has the choice, she would no doubt choose to be with Susanna- or any of that merry band of Lilithians she calls friends.

S t r o n g e s t . C h a r a c t e r . T r a i t . Belligerence

M a n n e r i s m s . Either Ode is still as stone or vibrating with energy- nothing is done half-way with her movements. In high spirits, she's prone to a dancing gait and leaping while running (and she claims to be faster than any boy on the isle, yet she refuses to be around any her own age so how would she know ?). If she's being affectionate, she might show it by flicking ears or arms. Yes, she does pinch her friends to leave little red marks on their skin like little ephemeral brands- a "love mark" she calls them ! Also, she does peck full on the lips (forget the idiotic cheek-cheek- all or nothing, chaps !) in greeting her friends- just try to stop her or let her see you pull a face after ! Odilia's anger, helpless frustration, sadness- are unrestrained and are often resolved in some sort of violence. She throws tantrums, smashes anything in sight, tears at her own flesh and hair, screams her throat raw- lets lose completely and never cares who or what comes into her path of destruction. Those sort of emotions she would much rather not sit still with. More often than not, she has blood under her fingernails- hers or someone else's, it isn't always clear.

O c c u p a t i o n s . Throwing rocks over the ledges, attending performances at the playhouse, "dark-dropping" (tying oneself to a ledge and then- dropping over), reading horror novels her mother would've forbade her from even keeping in the house, collecting snails, merrymaking with the girls on the south linn, defacing public and private property, party-going, swimming in the river (pretending to be lifeless in the river to scare passersby), and just recently, planning mariticide.

. B L O O D . R E L A T I O N S .

• M E R E S S E . D ' I N F E R . Odilia's Mother {"Ma'am"} . f/c. Miranda Otto
• L O R E N Z . D ' I N F E R . Odilia's Father {"Papa"} . f/c. Jason Isaacs
• P E R R O N E L E . Odilia's sister (20), the eldest of the three . f/c Delilah Koch
• F E L I S E . Odilia's sister (19), the middlemost girl . f/c Sonia Komarova

. T H E . D E A D . M A N . W A L K I N G .

• V I G O R . C O L O M B E . aka "The Widower". Odilia's new husband and sentient stone. f/c. Rufus Sewell

. L I L I T H I A N . R E L A T I O N S H I P S .

• with . S U S A N N A . ["My darlingest demoness, my heart's truest desire-"] Currently, Ode's so lovesick, she hardly see straight.

• with . C O N T E S S E .

• with . T R É P H I N E .

• with . G I S E L A . aka "Corpsey"