All information read here is OOC, unless you've actually learned it through IC play.
Tephanie is the eighth of ten living children. Her parents--wed by contract, not by love--concieved fifteen children between them, but five died in early infancy. She has five older brothers and two older sisters. Her younger siblings are a brother and sister. Of the ten survivors, seven remain among the living. Both all of her sisters, and her younger brother so far. Most of the others died in the family's cause although two, along with her mother, died in a plague that swept through their village. The second one was born as her mother lay dying, and born dead.
Although her parents didn't care much for each other, they both cared about their children in a gruff sort of way. Tephanie learned how to cook at her mother's side. This sparked an interest in alchemistry. Which in turn prompted her father to seek out teachers for the young girl to enhance those natural skills. Along with her lessons there, she recieved the usual lessons in fighting and the hunting of vampires.
Teph excelled, as far as martial skills go, in the art of projectiles. Bow, crossbow, sling, even throwing daggers. She's got a natural eye and sense of aim. About the time her parents sent her off to another branch of the family to study alchemistry, she discovered the forge. She is not, however, that good with sword or spear. She knows how to use them, but there are many others far better than she is.
There, with one of her uncles and his family, Tephanie began developing weapons and building them. She was seven. By the time she was ten, she was an accomplished young smith for her age, although she still continues to hone her skills in this, and all other areas..
She began going out on hunts then, at age ten. By twelve, she had become a woman in body, and was affianced. And then, shortly before her thirteenth birthday, she lost both her fiancee and most of the use of one leg.
A vampire pushed a house down onto her. While she was able to get mostly out of the door, a large portion of roof fell on her leg, crushing it. She healed, but was in pain most of the time and had to use a cane. Teph's hair went froma rich,dark brown--nearly black--to salt and pepper. Her father, just before he died, presented her with a gorgeous silver-headed mahoghany cane. It remains a beloved and prized possession to this day.
The loss of her leg put her out of "active field duty" for the most part, although she still served as an advance scout and was often sent on missions with a team that did not require sublty--she was still a chemist and builder of weapons--an "engineer" to the family. So, her exploding devices were still needed. And those--well. much better to make them close to the target, as they tend to go boom if jostled too much or too long. And she aquired a pair of orhpaned mules, Boy and Thistle, and trained them extensively to be her legs. No way could she walk most places on her own, after all.
Two years later, an accident in her lab nearly cost her life a second time. Chemicals that should never be set directly onto flame......got into flame. The fumes seared her lungs, nearly killing her. Others of the family heard the muffled boom and managed to drag her out of the small underground room before she succumbed to them entirely, and she was sent to France to recover in the home of Rosaline Belmont's family. Her hair turned completely white, then. But she still carried on the good work.
Hunting vampires. It's what the family does. Has done for centuries. They have become very good at what they do, with scholars keeping notes on the various kinds of vampires, what they can do, their servants--and how to destroy them. Engineers developing weapons and armors. And fighters, carrying the war to the lairs and dens of these foul creatures. While Tephanie herself is fairly open-minded, especially for a young woman raised as a very strict Catholic--she has NO room in her heart to accept a vampire or those that serve one willingly as anything but the vilest of black evil.
And then she was sent to Beware. To fight a vampire lord named Gareth. While in these lands, she met a warm and womderful Priestess of a people that her family would normally have deemed enemies--the Garou. Phaedra, along with her student Iason, healed Tephanie's leg and healed ease the hoarseness and coughing fits caused by the damaged lungs. It remains scarred, but she can USE it again as if the house had never fallen on it. She remains periodically awed that she can use it again, without the agony she'd accepted as her lot in life. She and Phae have become quite good friends! And she delights i that friendship. She also got the chance to learn her cousin "Rosie";s ways better. The gruff, grumpy engineer and the flamoyant, vital warrior enjoy each other's company, now. Personal trust as well as family loyalty lies between them--always a good thing.
And then the war against Gareth. She found a place among the elven war-smiths of the Rokkolith. She found also healing for her lungs from Gore--and she found one other, entirely unexpected thing. Love. Her own true love, Ruath Banni-arnith, the Lord Master of the Forge for Queen Aria. In the month of April, the twenty-second (of 2009, in OOC time), they concieved a daughter. As far as they are concerned, they are wed. Heart,body, mind, and soul. Teph's only fear is what will happen to Ruath in the end, for he will outlive her by many more years than the nearly two thousand he already has lived. But she won'tallow those thoughts to mar their future together. She loves and is loved--and it is enough.