Stasia's history (abbreviated)
Stasia's history as a human is tragic. Born in Austria before the start of World War II, she and her family was sent to a work camp in Poland after it was discovered they had helped smuggle Jewish families out of the country. Auschwitz was their second destination. She and her identical twin sister were selected for experimentation by the Nazis, under the infamous Dr. Josef Menegle.
As the war was drawing to a close and the Germans became more desperate, Stasia was selected for another experiment, something Mengele had acquired from an unknown source that was supposed to create the Nazi super-soldier. Stasia and three others were test subjects, before this mysterious substance was to be given to German soldiers.The experiment was conducted in absolute secrecy, or so they thought. Mengele may not have known that he was creating vampires, but the Volturi did. Their first task was to stop the experiment and destroy the evidence, then to find and destroy the vampire that had supplied the venom to Mengele in the first place. Stasia completed the transformation and, using her gift, was able to elude capture. Among the Volturi guard was Demetri, largely considered to be the greatest vampire tracker in the world. By stumbling upon her Gift, Stasia was able to split her consciousness into the minds of six different woodland creatures, scattering them. To Demetri, it appeared as though the "tenor" of her thoughts came from several directions at once, making it impossible to get a "lock" onto her. As Demetri relies entirely on his talent, he was unable to track her using more mundane means. This makes Stasia the only vampire to have ever eluded Demetri. To his credit, it was also determined that finding the newborn was less of a priority at the time. Finding and destroying the supplier of vampire venom to the Nazis was more important. It's unlikely that Stasia could have escaped capture for long. But she did get enough of a glimpse of the Volturi in action to learn two truths: There were others of her kind. And if they caught her, they would kill her.
For years, Stasia existed alone. She focused on revenge after she was unable to find her sister. Careful to keep hidden from other vampires, she worked with the fledgling Mossad, tracking and killing Nazis that had fled after the end of the war. Later, she went to Africa when her need for revenge lasted longer than the Nazis. The "dark continent" had many wars, injustice and genocide that needed addressing. Eventually, her rage ran its course and she chose to remove herself from the human world. She went to South Africa, establishing herself in Kruger National Park, roaming as far as Botswana and Mozambique.
She may have continued there for centuries, in relative peace. But one visitor to the park bore such a striking resemblance to her deceased father that she needed to investigate further. Tracking his origins from his tour reservations was child's play, leading Stasia to far-off America. If there are survivors of her mortal kin, she wanted to know.
Stasia succeeded in finding her mortal twin sister and her family. She set herself up to simply watch her family live their lives and protect them from harm. Forks, however, is a dangerous place to be a human. Stasia knew she would have to learn to coexist with the vampires and werewolves (something with she'd had no prior experience) if she was going to stay here.
A few friends were made and a few enemies. A conflict with one vampire, however, brought the attention of the Volturi back upon her and she fled Forks for her life. It was this conflict that led to her enmity toward the Cullen family, believing they manipulated her into killing an enemy for them, then abandoned her to her fate. The Volturi eventually caught up to her and through the auspices of Chelsea Volturi's powerful gift for forging bonds, Stasia agreed to accompany them back to Volterra, to plead her case to Aro.
Once in Volterra, the work began in earnest to bind Stasia to the coven and its leaders. With no prior strong bonds on her own, Stasia never stood a chance against the Volturi. In a matter of days, she agreed to join the Volturi Guard. Feeling especially close to Aro, who was delighted to add her unique talent to his connection. Not long after this, Stasia's mortal family was murdered in Forks. The subsequent investigation indicates that werewolves were responsible, but the actual culprits were never found. The young vampire was devestated by this loss. After surviving the war in Europe, it was important to her that her family's bloodline continue. Now, it is extinguished and Stasia is left to wonder whether or not her act of finding them ultimately led to their deaths. The only strong tie Stasia felt outside the Volturi was severed, making it that much easier for them to tighten their grip on her.
At the Volturi Ball, she was seen on Aro's arm and he became her first lover shortly thereafter. Inexperienced in relationships, Stasia fell hard, even though at some level, she realized that she was in over her head. Their affair lasted approximately six months, until Aro's interest waned and he broke with her. Stasia took this very hard and has indicated that she will remain with the Volturi until this crisis is resolved. but she makes no promise after that.
Currently, Stasia is residing in Port Angeles, an assignment she never wanted. The Olympic area has nothing but bad memories for her and the urge to put it all behind her is strong. Her future is anything but certain.
At heart, Stasia is a survivor. She endured hell as a human and her life as a vampire hasn't been a bed of roses either. She has learned to rely on herself, trust her own instincts, and make do with very little. For a vampire, she is quite single-minded and determined, rarely allowing herself to become distracted. When she commits to a course of action, she will see it through with ruthless efficiency. Within her, is a tremendous reserve of personal fortitude, which she draws upon in times of distress. She has learned that, as a general rule, the world is a dangerous place and most people in it are inherently untrustworthy. She will react quite directly, to real or perceived threats against her, believing that it is wiser to simply eliminate a danger outright. She is generally honest in her dealings with others, if somewhat reserved. She does not forget a slight against her and does have a considerable vindictive streak, but neither does she forget a favor done to her. She believes in paying her debts, for good or for ill. Forgiveness is not among her virtues.
A solitary creature for many years, Stasia has faced some adjustments when acclimating to belonging to a coven. Thus, her distrust of the rest of the world has evolved into a clannish outlook, combined with a territorial bent. Those within the coven (for the most part) can be trusted, but most strangers are regarded with suspicion. She is closer to some within the Volturi than others and only calls a few people friends. In spite of being indoctrinated into a coven, the young vampire still seeks out periods of solitude, for reflection and to seek peace. The bonds of the Volturi coven have weakened that need, but not completely eliminated it. Due to her unique talent, she has a great love for the nature. Her understanding of how the natural world fits together is unparalleled. Her talent is both a tool to achieve her objectives and a source of comfort and fascination, even awe.
Hunting and feeding is simply part of the natural cycle, but neither does she take much pleasure in the act or "play" with her food. Humanity, in her opinion, is capable of just as much evil as any vampire and having experienced some of that evil, she doesn't believe they need coddling or protection. For the most part, she is indifferent to humans. She takes little interest in them, but neither does she actively seek them harm. She was once devoted to the protection of her human family, but when they were killed by werewolves, that avenue was closed forever.
Generally, Stasia prefers a simple existance. She isn't motivated by wealth or personal power and has a general distaste for most modern gadgets. Her coven requires her to carry a cellphone, but it may or may not be turned on, or charged, or in one piece. She is happier roaming the forests, deserts or ocean than in a gilded mansion. In the wild places of the world, she is completely at home and her ability to silently melt into a forest is considered uncanny, even among the high standards of her own kin.
Stasia has the ability to place a portion of her awareness into the mind of an animal. When doing so, she gets all of the sensory input from the creature (with the strength of the animal's senses, not the heightened vampire senses). In her mind, this registers as a "feed" of sensory data. She can also control the animal, while in its mind. She is able to do this to more than one animal at a time, but the more creatures involved, the more her concentration is taxed and her ability to react to stimulation in her own body is reduced. Alternately, she can diminish her own conscious control over the animal significantly, and simply "go along for the ride". Contact with the animals can be broken at will and she suffers no ill effects if the creature is slain or injured while she is in contact, but she will know that it happened and have the associated sensory input. There is no lasting effect, positive or otherwise, to the creature from this. But the more familiar she is with a specific animal, the easier it is to establish contact. As a "side effect" of her powers, animals tend to be very friendly to Stasia, rather than having the aversion commonly showed to most vampires.
Stasia has indulged this power considerably over the years, and as a result of essentially living in the skin of wild creatures, her understanding of how the natural world fits together is unparalleled. She has flown as an eagle, plumbed the depths of the ocean as a whale, hunted as a leopard and been hunted as a gazelle.
And she will generally stop to pet a stray dog, or use her gift to nudge a creature out of potiential harm's way. Poachers or animal abusers are among her favorite prey.
