character name

the basics

full name • valeria romana salazar
nicknames • val
age • five hundred forty-one
birthday • october 9
occupation • primary care physician
species • vegetarian vampire
gender • female (she/her)
sexuality • heterosexual
special ability • temporary tactile compulsion

the appearance

hair color • brunette
eye color • golden
height • 5' 10"
face claim • phoebe tonkin
overall appearance • valeria was a thing of beauty even before she was turned at the age of twenty-three. her most striking features have always been her piercing cat-like eyes and sharp facial structures. she has a pursed lips, high cheekbones, a prominent jawline, and thin eyebrows to complement her golden eyes, giving her the pointed look. wavy, dark brown hair frames her face, falling all the way down past her shoulders. she is tall, standing at 5' 10", not to mention her naturally long limbs further emphasize her height. she is quite slender with taut muscles. under her lab coat and scrubs, she looks like she has a fragile and skinny body, but in reality she has wiry, well-developed muscles all over. outside of her professional attire, she is a high-fashion aficionado. she always wears designer and fully-planned outfits, with accessories and all. it goes without mention that she never leaves the house without some form of makeup and having her hair done (even when it looks like she's going for a disheveled look, one can be sure that it was, in reality, carefully crafted by her to look "tastefully messy"). 

the personality

likes • medicine, literature, fashion, music
dislikes • volturi, 
strengths • self-control, persistence
weaknesses • introversion, overextension
dreams • to be able to expand her practice
fears • the volturi finding her and exploiting her
general personality • valeria was never in a place of power or dominion, and so she has always had a profound sense of inferiority throughout her long life. she grew up as a peasant who then became a handmaiden for a noble spanish family. she was transformed into a vampire only to live the rest of her life in the shadows in fear of bigger and badder predators, like the volturi, who would quite literally kill to have her ability in their repertoire of talented guards. as such, she has always been reserved and lonesome. she finds it difficult to trust easily and so she opens up to a few. she has poor social skills, even after five-hundred years of being alive, much preferring isolation and solace in her books and art. although, she has gotten better at "faking it" as now she is able to see her patients and have superficial relationships with them. in the end, however, she does not have any real friends, let alone a family. she does compensate for this with her personal aspirations. it started with her goal to control her bloodlust, in which she succeeded and became a vegetarian vampire altogether. now it is in her medical career. she is a perfectionist who would more often than not overextend herself to ensure that everything she does is to her standard. 

the history

father • roman acosta salazar, deceased
mother • alegra maria salazar nee de los rios, deceased
siblings • n/a
important people • jacques desjardins, lover, deceased
hometown • middle age state of castille and leon in spain
overall history • 

alegra maria de los rios came from a long line of peasants. they were under the dominion of the castille and leon state in spain. in the spanish middle ages, the most beautiful of peasants were selected by noble families to serve them in the household, usually as handmaiden of the matron and daughters of the house. alegra maria happened to be the fairest in her town, and so she was selected to serve one of the most affluent families in the state, the house of salazar. she was assigned to tend to the needs of the house matron, señora guadalupe salazar, mother of the eldest of the salazar siblings; roman.  upon laying his eyes on the young alegra, roman instantly fell in love, much to his mother's chagrin. 

despite señora guadalupe's watchful eyes, roman and alegra were able to successfully hide their relationship, even after roman was married to another woman in a neighboring noble family. it came to the point where alegra found herself bearing a child whose father can only be but one. discovering her pregnancy, señora guadalupe was quick to banish alegra to a different town, far enough for roman to fail at finding his lover who bore his child, despite his greatest efforts.

settling in a remote peasant village in the outskirts of the state, alegra gave birth to roman's bastard child, who turned out to be a beautiful baby girl. with her heart half full of spite and anger, half of love and hope, she bestowed the baby girl a name: valeria romana salazar. she insisted on giving her roman's family name, knowing that not only was it unusual, it was taboo to name a child after its bastard parent, especially if that parent were of such affluence as roman was.

alegra raised her child in this small peasant village where she grew up to be even more beautiful than her own mother. catching the eyes of the nearest aristocratic family, valeria was taken from her mother at a young age in order to serve as a maiden for that noble family. though pained, alegra was overjoyed upon her daughter's entry into the noble home, knowing that her name, valeria romana salazar, and her impeccable features will one day haunt the house of salazar, especially roman and señora guadalupe. and as such, alegra's revenge flowered.

the noble family that had taken valeria in was strict, but not cruel. in fact, despite being against the social norm, valeria was somewhat exposed to literature and art. of course, she did not learn how to read or write until much later in her life. she still, however, had some experience with the religion, art, and literature of the time. during one of the state gatherings, where the elite families of the castille and leon state mingle with one another, valeria was scouted by one particular socialite. it was a girl a few years younger than valeria. fascinated by the beauty and grace the handmaiden exhumed, the socialite did not allow the night to end without striking a deal in order to acquire valeria to be her own servant.

coincidentally, the socialite who wanted valeria happened to share her family name. it was then revealed that this socialite was her legitimate half sister. señora guadalupe, who hadn't seemed to age after all this time, knew exactly who valeria was. the matron herself asked valeria to go to her chambers in the middle of the night to ask what her name was. upon hearing "romana salazar," rage filled señora guadalupe who, at an inhuman speed, launched toward the younger woman. everything became blurry that night and all valeria could remember was being dragged by señora guadalupe into the chambers the mansion. she was left there, in pitch black darkness, wailing in agony as she felt an excruciating pain permeate throughout her body. she felt as if molten metal was pouring through her veins. then, she passed out.

she woke up the next day with señora guadalupe standing over her. all of a sudden, a new monster of a pain hit valeria, the pain of insatiable thirst. she felt as if her throat was constricting, she wanted it to end, she wanted everything to end. señora guadalupe vowed to ease her pain in one condition: she forever serves the lady guadalupe with her life. agreeing to the condition, señora guadalupe left the chamber to come back with a half-beaten servant. valeria let her instincts took over and she devoured the servant, draining him of his blood. 

valeria was kept in the chambers where señora guadalupe would torture her by starving her to the brink of madness and satisfying her hunger with a few pints of blood and doing this over and over again in a never-ending cycle. one time, exhausted and hungry, valeria grabbed señora guadalupe by the foot and begged her to just end her life. as if possessed, señora guadalupe complied and was a second away from snapping valeria's neck when she told her to stop, to which señora guadalupe once again obliged. valeria remembered the older lady swearing and praying, calling her a witch. valeria was dumbfounded, as well, but she continued to experiment with this anomaly.

she held onto the señora guadalupe's face and ordered her to do various things, from fetching more blood to giving her new garments, and señora guadalupe was forced to obey. she learned that it didn't work unless she was touching her by the skin, and it didn't last very long. she ordered señora guadalupe to dance and she did so but only did it for a couple of minutes before snapping out. she also learned that it worked better and longer when she is properly fed. when full, valeria was able to compel señora guadalupe to do her bidding for hours at a time. nothing was ever permanent, however.

having found this ability, she was able to re-enter the world outside the chambers. she found that her abilities worked exceptionally well with mortals. she never abused her gift, however, using it only as a means to survive. she soon exited the salazar dominion in search of her mother. she only found out, however, that her mother had passed years ago. heartbroken and lost, valeria went on a bloody downward spiral, draining more people of blood than she had ever before. her action found herself terrorizing a small french village where another vampire's attention was caught.

the vampire's name was jacques desjardins. he, too, was a peasant who was turned by an elite member of society. jacques was a much older vampire, however, and served as a mentor for valeria's transition in tis new world. she learned of the order, of the volturi, of the shifters, and so on. jacques also helped valeria gain more control over her thirst and bloodlust. the two traveled across all of europe and beyond, eventually falling for one another. they became nomadic vampires and jacques helped valeria learn and develop her gifts of compulsion more and more. she learned that her powers worked somewhat differently among different people. for instance, her power worked better with people who are out of touch with their own minds, which explained why it worked so well with señora guadalupe, who had been alive for so long and endured so much that she has lost her humanity. she also learned that it was much easier to compel vampires who have not fed in a while, since their hunger makes them lose touch of their minds. it also worked better on the weak-minded of any creatures, discounting, of course, children of the moon and hybrids since she has never encountered these. so those who are blinded by greed, power, and so on are easy for her to influence.

the two lived together for many years. throughout the years, valeria found the ability to immerse in the things that interested her the most. she eventually learned to read and write. they, however, never stayed in one place. jacques knew that they had to live in constant vigilance because if the volturi found out about valeria's gift, she would have to live under their dominion, she would have to live a life that is once again not hers. valeria learned this the hard way.

the volturi was informed of valeria and her gifts by no other than señora guadalupe. as such, word traveled far and wide that the volturi was searching for valeria, eventually reaching jacques and valeria herself. they sought shelter with some of the friends they made throughout their nomadic lifestyle, only to be betrayed by one of them who colluded with the volturi. it happened in argentina. they were, as per usual, seeking temporary shelter with an argentenian coven in whom they wrongfully placed their trust. they arrived only to be ambushed by guards of the volturi. since it was mere speculation, only low-level guards were sent. but it was enough for valeria to realize the fear that jacques had all this time. she had to watch as the guards ruthlessly ravaged the argentenian vampires. in order to escape, jacques grabbed one of the female vampires from the argentenian coven and asked valeria to compel her into thinking that she was valeria. valeria did so and the argentenian vampire locked arms with jacques, who pleaded valeria to run and not stop running.

valeria, with her heart broken, ran as far and as fast as she could. the last thing she heard was that jacques and the argentenian vampire who was compeled to think she was valeria was inspected by higher level guards. upon seeing that she did not have compelling powers, both her and jacques were executed. señora guadalupe was also executed for false information. and so, as of right now, the volturi believe that valeria did not have powers and that she was dead.

valeria lived the rest of her life in her lonesome. she hid behind art, literature, fashion until this day in age. at this point, valeria heard of the vegetarian vampires in north america. she examined them from afar and began her journey of becoming vegetarian herself. her powers of compulsion significantly decreased ever since becoming a vegetarian vampire. the mechanisms were the same but the duration her power lasted decreased and the hold she had on someone was not as strong as it had been. once she overcame the goal of being completely vegetarian and having virtually full control over her thirst, she decided to continue her life as a member of society. she realized the best way to hide was to not hide, to be a part of society. using one of the vegetarian vampires she had observed, carlisle, as an example, she decided to become a physician. fifteen years later, valeria became an established primary physician, specializing in internal medicine, pulmonology, and critical care. she had a well-established practice in seattle and does hospital rounds a couple of weeks each month. 

she is thinking about moving her practice to forks to finally meet the vampires that had inspired her to live such a life. having gone through everything she has, however, she finds it hard to leave the comfort zone in which she survived for so long now.

the role player

alias & pronouns • just "B"; he/him
age • nineteen
timezone • EST
how did you find us? • site-hopping
secret phrase• garden burger
other characters • first one
tell us something about you • i am boy whose guilty obsession is twilight

Golden eyes followed the water droplets on a window. If she focused hard enough, she could see the very details of each raindrop, how the light was absorbed and was refracted. This was one her favorite parts about being what she was, the ability to see things in such a particular paradigm. She was able to appreciate the beauty and vibrancy of the world around her more now that she was a bloodsucking monster.

A brisk knock on the door interrupted Valeria’s thoughts. Before the door even opened, she knew who it was. The doctor had gotten to know her staff so well that she can recognize each one of them by the sound of their heartbeat, their breathing, and their smells. The person knocking was her very dependable physician assistant, Ella Coleman. The young lady seemed panicked.

”Dr. S, I hate to disturb you. I know we’re done for the day but Jason Fort is here and… well.. you know,” Ella sputtered.

She need not further elaborate. Jason Fort was one of her very heavily medicated and dependent patients. She had worked hard to wean him off his medication, but he had recently relapsed and is now back with abusing his drugs. She could hear his tantrum all the way from the lobby.

”I’ll be right there, Ella,” stated the doctor firmly.

Valeria grabbed her stethoscope, which was more ornamental than anything. Her virus, as she would call it, among others, allowed her the gift of enhanced senses. As such, she can listen to her patients without the need of any tools. She gracefully swooped out of her office and to the lobby where she was bombarded by frantic swearing by the addicted patient. She heard her staff apologize, but she waved at them as if to say not to worry. She put on her calming face, a face that took her thirteen years to master. She learned that her patients received her much better with a pleasant face than without.

The doctor tried to firmly reassure the patient that her office could not prescribe him any more drugs than what he already has, but to no avail. Val tilted her head. So it has come to this. The vampire grabbed the frantic patient by the arm and said, ”Stop. You will calm down, grab a drink of water, and go home where you will sleep all of this off.”

All of a sudden, the swearing and yelling stopped. Jason’s eyes dilated and he sat down in one of the waiting chairs. Ella gave her a paper cup full of water, which he calmly downed. Once finished, he stood up and made his way out of the clinic. All the staff, including Ella, looked at the doctor with much awe. This was not the first time something like this happened. Val’s gift, even after it was diluted by her choice of having a vegetarian diet, was quite effective on patients like Jason who have lost touch of their own minds.

”Dr. S, you have got to tell us your secret,” Ella humored.

”It’s called fifteen years of dealing with patients like him,” chuckled the doctor. With that, she turned and made her way back to her office.