Sister Corvis

Name Meaning:

Veronica: A cloth supposedly impressed with an image of Jesus' face.

Corvis: A small quadrilateral constellation in the southern hemisphere near Virgo. It can also refer to a Crow.

Nickname(s):

Bearonica - (only used by the children)
Holy Iron Maiden
Champion of the True Cross
Bloodhound of the True Cross

Age: 37

Race:  Human

Gender: Female

Organization: True Cross Organization.

Organization Rank: Champion Monster Slayer

The product of a stringent Catholic upbringing within an orphanage funded by the Vatican with a somewhat rebellious response being given in response to the lot of it, Veronica's appearance is one of the order and maintenance expected of someone who's in service to the Church and it's determined goals, yet it is bestrewed with obvious signs of noncompliance and independence from the typical authoritarian standards that sets herself apart from the other clerical staff in which she shares specific duties.

Towering over most average individuals with a standing height of approximately 180cm (5'11) and a suitable weight of 65kg (145lbs) to match it, Veronica could easily be considered a reasonably intimidating figure just by size alone. This aspect about her is only solidified further by her statuesque form, covered by cream colored skin pulled taut over her figure, and the athletic frame attached to it, which has been sculpted by rigorous training into a lean object designed to fulfill her True Cross duties to the fullest of her physical capabilities.

Starting form the top, the True Cross Nun possesses a head of gray hair that would, if unrestrained, all down her back like an unruly waterfall, but is instead kept wrapped tightly in a braided ponytail that is allowed to rest between her shoulder blades, the longest point of which, being the tip, reaches her lower back, which is decorated with a cross-shaped pendant to hold it all together. Parting to and down either side of her face are two strands that break off to frame her rounded facial features like a pseudo-picture frame.

The strand on the right is braided and slightly longer than it's left counterpart, reaching passed her chin in length while the left reaches her cheek, and possesses a cross-pendant at it's tip as a means of decoration. Possessing a wide forehead, below of which are features that act as a domicile to otherworldly eyes of dark amber, which are nearly golden in hue, the rest of her face consists of subtle cheekbones with a distinctly pointed chin and simple signs of having aged extremely well.

The attire worn by the Champion of the True Cross is similar to any other that would be present on a typical Catholic Nun, with slight modifications to the Habit to better suit her duties, of course. Ordinary in terms of appeal with it's standard black coloration, the long sleeved dress reaches down to Corvis's ankles and covers the majority of her body. A modification to the outfit, however, is one noticeable by almost everyone, and that is a long slit running up the right side towards the hip, which is designed to reduce leg restriction during field operations. Covering up her legs, so as not to be entirely inappropriate, are black and light-purple, thigh length stockings.

A veil covers her head and a portion of her hair, with about ten inches of her ponytail being visible. A vertical Ampoule is worn around her neck as a necklace and is accompanied by gold earrings in the shape of crosses attached to her earlobes, these being the only pieces of jewelry on her person. Protecting her feet from the harsh ground are a pair of heavy black boots, akin to those worn by soldiers in the field, with a decorative cross sewn into the fronts. A metal plate is hidden inside the rubber of the soles to act as an "anti-nail" plating to prevent anything from getting through. She also carries two satchels on the back of her waist containing her gear.

Veronica, having been raised within the confines of the church, expresses a great deal of loyalty to her faith, being quite strong willed. She, however, unlike most, doesn't allow herself to be led by blind biblical loyalty and has her own understanding and acceptance of what the scriptures mean, choosing to interpret them differently. She has her own set of morals, her own guidelines that she follows above all else, and will not stray from them regardless of what situation she is placed in; seeing the bibles rules as more of guidelines than anything else. Orders or missions that conflict with these set rules she has made for herself are often disregarded, regardless of who has given them. However, she will do what is necessary and required of her, but she will do so in her own way.

Personal beliefs aside, Veronica has a gentle, warm, compassionate and motherly nature, yet with a noticeably waggish side, all of which is shown through her familiar way of interacting with those around her. She is kind but firm, courageous yet reverent, but over all a genuinely polite and civil woman who's very soft-spoken and well-mannered. Spending her time mainly around the children of the orphanage, she is an affectionate individual who takes great care, concern and an otherwise vested interest in their growth, often taking a maternal stance regarding them, and is not above disciplining them with tough love should it be required.

However, she is also quite silly and playful when around them, sometimes even putting on a comically-sized bear mask in order to play tag or other games with them - the kids dubbing her "Bearonica" in return. Though, through all of this, she is far from timid or withdrawn in more serious situations. She will readily, but deferentially, criticize others for their faults should they become a problem, and will speak her mind when she feels it necessary regardless of the standing the other person possesses - even using her grace and kind-mannerisms to verbally show a person their place on the food chain.

Possessing the patience of a saint, or something damn well close to it, it is extremely hard to legitimately anger her, but it isn't high on anyone's list to do so - and for good reason. The saying "Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn" cant even begin to describe her when she is driven beyond her breaking point. God and his Angels would be about the only ones capable of saving any poor sob who managed to legitimately insight her wrath, and even that would be an amazing feat in its own right.

Pushing the Nun passed her limit can only be described as a Heaven-brought tempest revealing itself in a violent torrent of crucifixion spikes and bible scripture, accompanied by her own maniac rantings akin to bible verses, of which will most likely only end in pain and suffering of whoever is on the receiving end. Endangering the children at the orphanage - or any child in her field of vision - in any way, is one of the few ways to accomplish this.

Moving into her mindset as the True Cross Champion, she is calm, level-headed and composed, rarely showing any signs of panic or distress while in the field. Being a keen thinker and a highly observant, analytical woman, she becomes very serious when doing her gruesome work, rarely allowing herself to be caught off guard or distracted, letting her to see through most deceptions that could potentially arise.

Ruthlessly efficient and merciless to those who stand in her way, a mask of stoicism covers the once kind and motherly features that the children are so familiar with and the amber eyes that held such a kind and compassionate look are frozen over with a dead stare as her stakes are let loose against her enemies.

Doing so to make it a point to literally crucify them so that they may experience Christ's pain before death. She tends to take a slight satisfaction in doing so, though it is purely connected to the thought of erasing another unholy abomination from God's earth, or so she tells those who ask. She lets none escape should she be able to prevent it, often tracking enemies until no lead is left or they are dealt with, gaining her the second nickname that she carries.

Despite her otherwise ordinary personality, Veronica is, in actuality, a woman who struggles with her darker side as she believes it conflicts with her faith. A number of rumors have sprouted within the organization about her feeling of "satisfaction" she feels when doing her fieldwork, and have connected it with her use of crucifixion stakes and her methods in which she employs them. Some have even pointed out that she possesses the characteristics resembling that of a closet sadist, and have connected her feeling with it.

Such accusations are scoffed at by her, of course, readily denying them the moment they are mentioned or overheard. However, much to her utter mortification, they are entirely accurate and she struggles to control herself. She uses her fieldwork as an outlet to fully indulge herself in putting the creatures she hunts in the utmost pain, this in fact giving birth to her preference of crucifying those who oppose the church, thus making it a non-issue when not on a mission.

However, she often tries to conceal it even while on a hunt because of the guilt she feels about being this way, and she often questions why she is. Unfortunately, it does not always work out the way she intends and a lewd smirk, a blush, sadistic smile or a number of other things will occasionally slip out from under her stoic mask to reveal this shameful side of her, though the chance of anything living to tell about it are extremely slim. Nonetheless, she's extremely ashamed of this side of herself and does whatever she can to keep it suppressed and otherwise hidden.

Veronica carries with her her four Bibles; each with their covers reinforced with Kevlar to make them somewhat resistant to gunfire, as well as being waterproof. Ordinary to most who view them, they serve a second purpose by acting as her weapon. Utilizing her faith, she uses the pages inside and the vast array of nails that accompany them to secure them to various objects or beings. They are securely placed in the satchel on the back of her waist, along with enough nails to pin every page of a single one of her bibles to a surface.

Placed inside the bibles under the facade of bookmarks, she also carries with her a number of Chinese paper talismans. Not strictly deviating from her Christian faith, she has rewritten the Chinese sutras in ancient Latin phrasing to further solidify that she has not cast aside Catholic teachings, but has instead utilized them to an even higher level. These Chinese talismans have the ability to reinforce her holy barriers if applied to the same surface the barriers are on, allowing her to strengthen them even further.

She also carries a multitude of blessed crucifixion spikes, each having been soaked in holy water with silver lacing their edges and tips. Twenty four are placed in the satchels, twelve in each, next to the bibles, while four strapped to each of her thighs and six more are strapped to each of her forearms, each ranging from 5 (in her sleeves) to 8 (on her thighs) inches in length.

Carried inside the second satchel in special pockets are several (three (3)) ampoules filled with holy water, which can be thrown or broken by hand in order to utilize during battle. A favored method of which is, if caught in some kind of hold, to break them by hand and wet her own skin to burn unholy entities upon touching them, causing the standard pain and burning sensation.

Taking up the small slots that were too small for the ampoules are four (4) vertical, tubular ampoules which can be opened, containing copious of silver shavings inside, while not a lethal dose (to vampires) it has enough inside to at least, if inhaled, stun an attacking vampire that manages to get to close for comfort. The one around her neck also has silver shavings inside for easier access. The silver shavings are also used to carry out her blessed rituals, but she only has enough to preform one before needing to restock. She also carries one small tube of blessed purification salts.

In her possession are numerous oversized bear masks, often kept in a closet or storage area, though one is also on her person. Inflatable and portable via her satchel, it's often used for comedic relief when around the children and for various other games and silly antics she likes to pull when at the orphanage.

Sister Corvis has the physical training she was put through in the True Cross, which resulted in her having the speed, agility and stamina of an Olympic track runner and reflexes of a highly trained solider, making all of her physical attributes peaking at the human limit, on top of being shown to be quite nimble and well-balanced to near supernatural levels. On numerous occasions has she been seen pulling off incredible acrobatic flips, cartwheels, slides, wall runs, and more - even on fast moving surfaces and in places where footing is severely hampered or thin (top of a moving train, ledge of a building, for example) making her an extremely hard target to pinpoint. The result of her True Cross training hasn't only made her an incredible athlete, but also a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, granting her incredible Aikido talents; focusing solely on redirecting an opponents force against them to take control of the situation instead of confronting it directly, making it extremely useful against overwhelming opponents like physically superior supernatural foes.

The rest of the Nun's abilities revolve entirely around her faith in the scriptures. She possesses the ability to control the Gospel pages of her four bibles to gain access to the standard abilities that come with them; such as erecting holy barriers to repel unholy forces and teleportation over vast distances, up to twenty miles, of which she can take up to three people along with herself (1 per bible). However, Veronica uses them is such a refined degree that allows her to use them directly as her weapon against the undead. Such uses include the ability to restrain opponents by having the pages latch onto their body, clutching down with enough force to cause injuries ranging from bruising to the snapping of bone, depending on Veronica's choice of torture at that moment, and thus mummifying them in the process to restrict their movement; even asphyxiation is something she can use the pages to accomplish.

This often is combine with the nails or stakes in her possession to turn the trapped individual into a pincushion; an act that gained her one of the nicknames she currently wears. She can even create multiple high-class barriers within the area her pages inhabit, allowing her to stack them on top of one another to subdue higher class supernatural beings. These barriers not only prevent unholy entities or objects from escaping, but it also negates the more magical-esque of abilities they might possess, such a hypnosis, weather control, and other similar powers. Those of unholy nature that come into contact with the barriers receive an intense burning for as long as they remain in contact with it and can be forcibly thrown back.

Along with these massive page numbers and her innate talent with them, she's grown extremely skilled in the art of multitasking, splitting the swarm of pages into numerous groups and controlling them simultaneously while bodily movement is being preformed is hardly a problem for her, allowing her to control the battlefield due to their numbers, using them for offensive, defensive, and supplementary purposes, sometimes all at once. The use of her stakes, aside from being combine with her bible pages, are also that of a professional; even supernatural in comparison. Able to bring them forth from her sleeves and robes with a mere flick of her wrist or a wave of the hand (though this can be more-so compared to sleight of hand than anything else) which can then be thrown by her with pin-point accuracy and with enough force to embed themselves and their entirety into concrete; allowing her to accomplish such feats as crucifying the opposition to solid surfaces. She's also grown adept at using them as close-quarters weapons by holding them between her fingers similar to claws.

However, one of Veronica's most unique abilities is the ability to "sense" unholy beings, gaining her the bloodhound title she also carries on her shoulders. That is to say, she's trained her sixth sense to the point of allowing her to tell when they are in the area. It can be compared to a radar, to be more clear, with it being easier to locate them the closer she gets to the target, and harder the further away she gets. In a way, she can pinpoint their location by moving toward the strongest essence and following it. This does have it's limits, though, as it's similar to a radar, spreading out to only 70 meters (230 feet) from her center, meaning passed that range the ability fails to work altogether.

Moving into her more civilian abilities, she's quite good at cleaning and cooking; as working around the orphanage in her free time almost requires it. She is also extremely skilled in origami, having taken it up as a hobby and can freely fold and manipulate the pages of her bible into various shapes and objects, she can do the same with ordinary paper by folding them with her deft fingers. Corvis also has a vast knowledge of the Occult and various ancient rituals, as well as having studied the churches secret histories and archives, which she's spent literally days of her time in, allowing her knowledge on said topics to be roughly on par with an expert practitioner. This, along with her experience as the Champion of the True Cross, has allowed her to utilize this knowledge in order to make countermeasures against the dark forces she fights against.

Deus Revocet - God Revokes

An anti-black ritual technique created by Veronica with the use of her knowledge of the occult and through the utilization of her own faith. It's designed to cleanse an area of unholy taint, barriers or rituals in general which have been activated in the area around her. Essentially, this prayer deconstructs unholy essences that may be obstructing her. It's preformed by pouring all of her silver shavings into a single pile on the ground while reciting a prayer similar to an occult chant, before stepping on the shavings and grinding them in with her heel. This purifies the area of all in-place rituals which may be effecting her surroundings.

Divinae Auxilium Anulum - God's Protective Ring

An anti-vampire and exorcism technique created by Veronica with the use of her knowledge of the occult and through the utilization of her own faith. It is designed specifically to keep those of unholy nature out or away from objects of interest. The technique is preformed by forming a circle on the floor with silver shavings, preferably around and area, object or individual she wants to remain protected. Offering a prayer - similarly to an occult rituals chant - the technique will erect a dome like sphere around the surrounded object similar to the holy barriers she can create with her pages, forcing those of unholy nature to be rejected, thrown back and burnt severely on contact. The barrier lasts for five full posts after activation, and must take two posts to properly set up, making it more fruitful to utilize it and activate it before a conflict begins. Due to the amount of silver shavings Veronica carries with her, this can only be used once per thread.

Divinae Auctoritatis Anulum - God's Authoritative Ring

A sister technique to Divinae Auctoritatis Anulum that was also created by Veronica with the use of her knowledge of the occult and through the utilization of her own faith. Unlike it's sister technique which is used to keep unholy things out, this technique is used to trapped them inside. Carried out in a similar way to it's sister technique, it must first be properly set up. The technique is preformed by forming a circle around a specific area with silver shavings, along with a star of David on the inside of it. It is activated by a prayer-like-chant which erects a holy barrier around the encircled area, trapping whatever unholy being is inside. Touching the barrier will result in heavy burns and being forced away from it. Unholy creatures trapped inside will feel sick and physically oppressed. The barrier lasts for three posts, but nothing can pass through the barrier from the in or outside, not even weapons. This is more of a stall for time tactic. However, due to the time it takes to set up (3 posts) it's more fruitful if set up before hand. Due to the amount of silver shavings Veronica carries with her, this can only be used once per thread.

Deos Coetui Angelorum - Gods Company of Angels

The embodiment of years of exorcism training and knowledge and refined into a weapon by Sister Corvis, it's her way to fight against the undead with all her might packed behind it. Deos Coetui Angelorum is an anti-vampire exorcism technique created by the Nun herself via the utilization of her bible pages, and is by far her strongest technique. Throwing herself into a full sprint toward whatever target is unlucky enough to face her wrath, the pages will collect around her in a swarming mass of golden fury - much like an escort of angels - and literally propel her toward the target.

The barriers the pages can manifest are, at the same time, focused on and layered around her own body in a spherical shape; which results in a transparent orb being distinguishable among the pages with the words "God lives in Heaven" written in blue italics across the front surface (the front being whichever way she's facing). This layered defense of protection repels unholy bodies and influences away from her, utterly rejecting them to the fullest extent. Unholy bodies that come into contact with this orb are forced back as if a bullet ricocheting off of a wall; generating bone shattering force while at the same time maiming them by the intense burning, of which is so concentrated that skin and muscle are easily burnt away to the bone.

The rejection this sphere offers not only applies to unholy bodies, but cursed objects as well, acting as a defense against unholy weaponry. However, this technique does not require her to be moving to preform, as the sphere can be created around her for protective means as long as her pages are available to swarm around her, allowing her to activate it even while not moving.

(Note: It lasts for one post after activation, and requires a four post cool-down before it can be used again.

The speed in which she is propelled toward the target, when it is activated, can be rated at level 2 stats, for forum reference.)

Veronica was born in Termini, Italy, and her story is like many who were raised under the care of the church. Similar, but never exactly alike, her story begins with her mother. Barely out of her teens, she had been one for the nightlife and all the pleasures that came with it, including those of the more endowed nature, and often a number of them at a time.

Losing herself within the fast lane and the irresistible lust that came with it, she got an unexpected surprise when Veronica was born 9 months after a rather wild and steamy encounter with a number of male and female 'contacts'. These circumstances, of course, led the father to be unknown. Paying the price for being so loose and carefree, her feelings of invincibility came crashing down around her.  

Stuck with a child and having lost her ability to slip her way into midnight parties and into the beds of men, her mother had to find another way to get by. She was, after all, the type who thought she was suppose to be taken care of. To be handed whatever she wanted on demand. But life had a funny way of slapping ignorance and stupidity with a healthy dose of reality.

The two were always on the streets after this, scavenging what they could from wherever they could, managing to scape by with scraps from restaurants and a few house calls to some old male friends she was very well acquainted with. However, this only went on for about eight months until her mother, being the stuck up princess she thought she was, wanted things to go back to the way they were. She missed her old life, and in turn developing a deep loathing for her daughter and what she made her life turn into. Fed up with caring for 'it,' she decided the easiest thing to do would be to leave the eight month old child at one of the nearby orphanages.

The orphanage just so happened to be run by a Clerical staff under the employment and funding of the Church. A child being randomly left there wasn't all that unusual, and it was almost expected; sad but true. After being placed on the steps with a crudely written note, her mother left. Found by the staff a few moments later due to her obsessive cries, she was taken in as one of the flock. Raised with Catholic teachings, she held a very firm belief in the Bible, so much that she kept four copies of them in her possession, though she now see's their teachings more as rightful guidelines than actual rules that must be followed, nonetheless she enjoyed it's teachings growing up.

She was a normal child for a while, often taking on a big sister role to the others around her and lending a helping hand to the nuns where she could around the orphanage, showing great maturity at a very young age and showed great potential. Eventually, however, she was introduced into the True Cross ranks at the age of 17, like so many others in the orphanage, where she would put her belief to the test.

She quickly became an expert in anti-vampire exorcism techniques, utilizing holy water, crosses, silver, and even the very pages within her own Bibles to erase them from the face of the earth, showing tremendous talent in the use of multiple bibles at once. Her utilization of scripture as a weapon and extensive training in anti-vampire techniques was soon recognized, resulting in her first real mission at the age of 19, which ended with Veronica killing her first vampire and the first time she'd witnessed the death of another human.

A vampire was hold up with two men in a local abandoned church, both working for it, and following an argument; one of them had his throat torn out the moment she entered the beasts hiding place. It was rather gruesome to witness, and the immediate shock that came with it almost got her killed. Luckily reflex took over and allowed her to avoid having her head ripped from her shoulders and for her to dispatch the vampire with what seemed like nothing more than sheer dumb luck with a reflexive throw of one of her stakes, hitting the abomination and the second man in the heart and neck.

Veronica coped rather well afterwards, referring to her holy book for a bit of guidance on the subject of taking another humans life. She soon began to realize that, while the True Cross members acted as Gods intermediaries, they had to break a few of the rules within their holy book to do so and as such, she began to develop her own understanding of it what the scriptures meant. However, something else was bothering her. Something inside. She actually enjoyed killing them, and it terrified her.

It wasn't so much killing them, but the pain she inflicted upon them, the cries she heard when her stake impaled their bodies sent a warm tingle up her spine. She was...frightened, to say the least. Terrified that such an act gave her such a feeling, she suppressed it. She did so, regardless of the fact that each time she drove her stake into something it continued to happen, giving her a thrill beyond belief.

This feeling was the sole reason to drive her towards developing her methods of dealing with the unholy vermin that plagued the earth. Crucifixion, what a painful way to die. Possibly suffering for days on end, the way Christ died on the cross. Developing such an idea from such impure thoughts was something she was deeply repulsed by, but...she did it anyway. Crucifying her first vampire was, well, amazing to say the least, enough to bring her to her knees. Luckily, no one was with her at the time to witness this.

It was amazing at first, driving her to create another way to get her thrill. Inventing the Holy Iron Maiden method and using it for the first time was utter bliss, but as time went on the guilt she began to feel over being this way continued eating at her core, she felt disgusted with herself. Deciding to try and suppress this unyielding need, she eventually succeeded to the point of where she could control her outbursts, though occasionally she couldn't hide the small signs of her still taking pleasure in her ruthless tasks, a few would slip past her stoic mask that she'd pull over her face.

Ignoring or downright rejecting the number of rumors and talks that were given birth too, she did her best to conceal it from any of her colleagues and instead began using her field missions as an outlet to get her fix, but otherwise continued about her life. The rest of her time within True Cross was spent like any other agent, used to hone her skills and hunt down abominations. This eventually led her way to becoming the Top Agent within the True Cross, it's strongest individual member and champion, having completed countless assignments with the utmost efficiency.

However, as she took the position of Champion of the True Cross, she also took the time to open her own orphanage with church funding. It would become a place where she would work when not doing her duties as a True Cross agent and use it as a covert training ground for future operatives, along with taking care of the children. It wasn't until she was thirty three and already a well established member than she had a run in with an orphan in the streets of Rome. A pickpocket, no less, attempting to rob her.

It didn't end as expected, the Nun simply slapping the child in the head with her bible in a comedic way to break the tension, which it did, though the child cut herself with the knife she was using in the process. Kneeling down to help her with some bandaging, she was caught off guard as the child stole the very bible she was hit with and ran off. This ended up as a hour or so long chase across the streets of Rome before she cornered the child in an alleyway with one of her friends.

Taking pity on the children, as well as being guided by her warm and motherly nature, she took the two back to the orphanage and actually adopted them, herself, intending to raise her as an True Cross Agent. Veronica would then continue this life, both as an instructor for new agents, a True Cross operative herself and a motherly figure to her newly adopted daughter and children at the orphanage, intent on guiding them down the right path.