[NIGHT_DREAM] Luisa "Lu" Jarkken

Name: Luisa "Lu" Jarkken
Some also call her the 'Ghost Assassin'

Age: Twenty

Gender: Female

Species: Human

Allegiance to House:House of Stark of the North

Role to House: None as of yet

Personality: At first meet Lu comes across as the silent and distant type, preferring to be alone and keep to the shadows. If you're lucky she won't speak to you, or take any notice, yet even without her body language which screams 'warning, danger' Lu tends to make people feel uncomfortable.

If you're unfortunate enough to get in her way, Luisa is bluntly honest, with a quick tongue and a short temper which quickly turns into outbursts of rage, and often needing in a new set of clean clothes. She is cold and distant with no remorse or seemingly no care for other souls.

When the chance comes that Lu is in a good mood, on the other hand, she may find you amusing and will probably find a way to use you and your money to fill her stomach with food and ale. She's manipulative, but careful and never letting anyone get too close.

For that is when Luisa is at her weakest, once she admits - whether out loud or to herself - that she cares for another. She is deeply loyal when the (horrid) time comes, and would give her life up to save those she cares for. But she fears letting others get close and getting hurt, and not just physically. Cuts heal and bruises fade.. but true damage is done to her heart, her very soul. And that she protects the only way she knows how - distance.

It makes her a rather lonely soul and often her outbursts of anger are more at her own loneliness and stubbornness for living her life alone, rather than at the poor soul that happened to get in front of her face at the wrong time.

Physical Description: It has been said by many that Luisa's looks match her personality better than any one of her charms and decorations which she has crafted and decorated her plain clothing with.

Her fiery red hair which vary in shades of dark red near the top of her head to pale orange by the tips light her up like a beacon for what may feel like miles, helping her stand out against the harsh white snow of the Northern lands. The snow is matched only by her pale skin which often shows off the blue veins laying beneath, and her icy blue/grey eyes. Some who had seen her by night claim that she was one of the Others from beyond the wall, as when the silver rays of the moon fell upon her ghostly complexion. Her eyes seem to glow in the reflecting light and the crispy fog which surrounds her small, pale pink lips made her appear almost ghostly. It's that very appearance that has given her the nickname of the 'Ghost Assassin'. Well... one of the reasons.

Standing at a surprisingly small 5 foot 3, Lu's height is added by her thick rimmed boots making her appear to stand at an average 5 foot 5. Her slender, pale body doesn't lack the feminine curves which capture the attention of any man on the look out. The strong cheekbones and small chin emphasise how skinny the girl is, but the look seems to work for her. She has a soft neck, which is always decorated by some sort of metal jewellery, usually used to hide the potent collarbones which easily stick out from her chest and reach up to her shoulders,making them appear smaller and more fragile. Despite her slender body, Luisa has fair breasts large enough to fill a man's hand - which, in her opinion, is all that a man needs. Her small waist may show off two ribs just below her breasts, but the well toned stomach catches the attention of all who get to see, with all the right muscles easily seen. Her wider hips tend to have a seductive swing to them when needed, making her rear almost as hyptnoitc as the swing itself. Just below her small, yet well rounded behind, fall a pair of thin, toned, and beautiful pale long legs, ending at the small feet which are always hidden.

Although despite her nature and cunning ways, Lu enjoys taking her time to make her outfits when she has a few days to spare, usually ending in a seemingly casual dress, with a personal twist. Most of her dresses are sleeveless with a simple white cotton top tied around her shoulders, and across her chest just below her collarbones and above her breasts, with long sleeves which reach down past her fingers and widen at the edge. Her torso and breasts are held in place by various corsets, usually leaver with metal clips holding it together, or decorating it. Her hips are protected by an elongated leather plate which meets her dress, which is usually made out of cotton in shades of brown, black or dark blue. Beneath, Luisa likes to wear a tight pair of leather pants, so - if needed - she can quickly slip off her dress decor and run without being held back by feminine fashion.

Despite the chosen piece of clothing, there is one accessory that Lu will always have on her possession. Some sort of decor, whether a leather sleeve or a simple black material patch, Luisa always keeps her left forearm hidden from anyone's sight to hide the terrible scars she bares. In addioion she also likes to wear shaded goggles she had once stolen from a blacksmith and placed into a leather holder strapped to her head, to help avoid the glare of the sun reflecting off the white snow. When cold, she - like many other citizens of the North - likes to wear coats made out of fur, and a matching hat which covers her ears and the back of her neck, hiding her long red locks at the same time.

Powers and Abilities: As her 'nick name' has said, Luisa is a trained Assassin, or at least the equivalent of it. She is well accustomed to wielding blades and swords, usually preferring to remain true to her daggers which she uses for quick, surprise attacks. Being she isn't very large, and quite fragile at that, she avoids using heavy swords such as long swords or wide axes.

In addition, she is very flexible and can preform many acrobatic movements to help in her kill or getaway.

Strengths and Weaknesses:
Luisa is quick, silent, with no remorse and is a quite deadly opponent, which is underestimated by the majority of her opponents, giving her an extra element of surprise.
Having only herself to look after, she isn't weight down by responsibilities to others or needing to worry about leading others into harm's way.
Her quick tongue and manipulative abilities often help her escape or avoid battles she knows would otherwise be foolish to fight.

That, however, is also what often get's her into situations in which she may have bitten off more than she could chew. Being alone makes her very vournable not only to ambush attacks or uneven fights, but more so to the loneliness which lies, buried deep within her.
She may be cold and distant on the outside, yet if anything manages to pass the walls which she had built around herself, they would become her biggest weakness.

Weapons and Armour of Choice: The only armour that Luisa wears are her leather corsets and the arm piece on her left arm. So, in other words, none that would actually help in battle.

Her preferred weapon of choice is her single silver dagger which she always carries in it's metal sheaf. The blade was forged in the lands Across the Narrow Sea. It's hilt is decorated with various metals and animal bones to make it stronger. It used to be decorated with precious stones, which indents can be seen surrounding the middle 'bulge' on the hilt of the blade, but they have long ago been stripped away. Across the hilt are small cross like symbols carved into the metal, and sailing boats with full moons between them carved into the blade itself.

Background History:

The Dreadfort castle. It is the seat of House Bolton, located on the banks of the Weeping Water east of Winterfell. The Dreadfort is ill-omened as the stronghold of House Bolton, who are famed for the flayed skins of their enemies they keep on display in the castle. The skins of several ancient Starks are rumored to be amongst their collection. (1) It is there that Luisa was born, in the very stronghold itself.

Her mother was a simple bed maid for Lord Bolton who lived within the stronghold along with the cooks, other maids, grounds keepers, knights and the Bolton family itself. But life at the keep tended to get rather tiresome and repetitive for many of the young knights who had been stationed there, especially in the times of peace which had somewhat lasted throughout the North Lands in those years. The years where King Robert Baratheon still ruled the lands. And Maria, Luisa’s mother, was quite the pretty little thing with flowing red hair and fair skin. It was of no surprise that Sir Jarkken was caught in her mesmerising beauty, and quickly enough found himself devouring every inch of her untouched flesh. The two had been together for almost a year before she fell pregnant. Most didn’t care, knowing who the father was but remained silent, until Lord Bolton fund out, that is, and ordered the young knight to leave the strong keep and do his duty elsewhere.

The pregnant Maria, however, was far luckier as the Lord was quite fond of her, and her family had always served the Bolton family well, so he allowed her to stay there with the child, on one condition. The child would do as he said, without question. His own personal slave. To everyone’s surprise, the child was a beautiful little girl. Luisa, as her mother named her. The first few years of her life were marry and filled with kindness, that was until she was five and old enough to understand things and do small tasks herself. It was then that she had found out about the ‘deal’ her mother had made, and began to hate the woman for doing this to her. For selling her life to another, knowing what being a slave meant. She has seen them in the dungeons, thinking that it was there that she would end.

For the next three years she carried out simple tasks and tended to the Lords every need. None of the other workers dared to speak to her, frightened that the Lord might think ill of their small gesture, and it wasn’t long before the only sounds she knew where orders from her Lord and the sound of bickering in the distance. But the life of a simple servant girl ended when she was just eight years old. A stranger travelling through the lands had asked the permission to stay in the stronghold over night to pass out the storm which he had brought with him. The Lord was sceptical, but agreed none the less, for a small price of course. Knowing that the Lord would like his midnight drink of warm milk, Lu walked through the halls silently to get the stored milk which he had prepared earlier, when she heard strange noises in one of the rooms. Curious, and a little frightened, she saw the stranger packing his fur coat full of the Lord’s late wife’s jewellery. Instead of alarming others, however, Luisa silently went into the kitchen and took out a knife and without a sound made her way back into the room where the intruder was, slowly creeping up behind him. Knowing she couldn't reach him well – she was just a child, after all – Luisa cut the back of his knees, making the stranger cry out and fall to the ground, and before he could realise what had suddenly happened, sliced his throat open.

In the morning she went to her Lord and explained what happened, giving him the bloodied knife and leading him to the room with the body and showed him the coat pockets which were filled with stolen goods, and not just from his own Keep. She thought that he would be furious, but instead he found a new amazement in the girl. A new hope, new toy, new weapon. After that, Luisa spent the next two years learning how to use various weapons, and training her body to move like no one else’s had. Being so young, she picked up on the traits quickly and by the time she was eleven, she had managed to beat every knight within the strong keep. The Lord was thrilled with her achievements, but the knights were not. They were getting tired of looking bad before a simple child, no longer caring whether she was their Lord’s pet or not, a few of them snuck into her chambers, and grabbed the child, taking her to one of the dungeons. There, they said that she would be taught the next stage of her lessons. Taught about torture. Torture they did on her. It was her cries that had managed to wake the Keep up, yet none of the knights came forward as to who had done it, and the child was too traumatised to dare and speak the name. After that night, she stopped speaking all together. It was there that she received the scars on her left arms, permanent burns and cuts so deep they seemed to bleed for hours.

The Lord had given her a week to recover from the physical wounds she was given, but nothing changed. She did not speak, did not listen to anyone, did not follow instructions despite the beatings that she had received for her behaviour. Almost a year later nothing had changed, apart from her skills in battle. She was better, faster and stronger than before, and on the eve of the horrible night inside the dungeons Luisa killed the guards which had tortured her, along with those who just stood and watched before leaving the Keep without as much as waking a soul. The Lord ordered to look for the murder child, but she could not be found. Like a ghost, she vanished from the lands.

Luisa travelled to Hornwood, south of the Dreadford and even Winterfell. She was twelve years old by the time she got there, and lived off by helping others around her for food and a place to sleep. It wasn’t for another year, two years since the horrid night, that Luisa finally spoke, shocking all those around her. It was a cold night and she was sitting in the Inn, eating some bore that the cook had given her, when a drunken lad started laughing at her. First she didn’t take notice until he began to poke her with his fork, and splash some of the ale upon her clothing. Without looking away, she warned the man that if he did one more thing, she would kill him. Laughing, the drunk got closer to the girl, and placed a single finger upon the crown of her head. Without another word she stabbed her fork into his windpipe and ripped it out in a manner that ripped open his throat. The man fell to the ground, chocking in blood as others stood shocked. She took the meat into her hand, thanked the bar tender and left the Inn. That was the last anyone in Hornwood saw her.

For years she travelled all over the North lands (as far as the Graywater Watch), doing what she did best. Killing. Though she had quickly learnt that murder was frowned upon and found ways to never leave a clue behind as to who had killed the people. She began to hear rumours about a Ghost Assassin in the areas and decided that it would be best to lay low for a while and find a steady job, doing what she could. But her skills lacked in the feminine ways, and in the end she gave up and looked for work with a sword. But no place would hear any of it. So after a long consideration, Luisa decided to go to Winterfell itself, and offer her services there, or least – find out where she could be wanted. If not the Lords, than the locals should help her out at least.