#altermeira

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION (OR WRITE A COUPLE PARAGRAPHS)

Height: 6’ Eye Color: Dark brown Hair Color/Style: Dark brown Aesthetic/Style: Tweed, 1910s-20s vintage, hunting clothes and “country attire,” a rocks glass with two centimetres of scotch at the bottom, rolling green hills, a disappearance in a crowded nightclub, a cold night with two people grasping each other tightly Other: There were some tattoos, no one’s sure where they went. Play-By Used: Gal Gadot

BACKGROUND AND CHARACTER

It was all decided for her.

When her mother took her at barely six months and moved with her pagan collective to Alonissos in the Sporades to be one with nature and worship in her own way, it was all Alter knew. She was happy growing up among the mothers and daughters of Alonissos, among the magical creatures and the various wildlife of Greece. The magic they did through rituals and understanding, the education, all of it was intense, but also highly supportive.

And then the representatives came.

Israel is still located in something of an active area, the result of numerous magical conflicts, mythology, and traditions that spread out from the cradle of civilization. At eighteen, all eligible birth citizens are required to do at least one year’s service with the Wards, a defensive unit designed to protect the nation from the numerous human and otherwise magical threats. As several of Mater Meira’s adherents were originally from there, their daughters had come of age and were to serve their time in the Wards. They could resist, but that would mean a standoff and an incident with the wizarding government of Israel. So Alter and the other daughters left their land for their “homeland” and an uncertain fate. 

It was odd, her tour. Alter and her “sisters” had never been so close to dark magic, and the intense environment tended to warp things, to say nothing of the near-constant culture shock both from a new home and significantly different demographics from the all-woman island. With her advanced aptitude, Alter managed to transfer from active duty to combat instruction, training Wards for their field missions and active defense rather than being on the lines themselves, but after an incident involving an uncontained dybbuk left her base short-staffed and Alter and her students having to buy time until help arrived, she was transferred back into defense operations. Out of a desire to care for her squadmates and defend her current home, she ran two years on city defense, pushing herself further into danger so those with her would be less affected. It had a profound effect on her both physically and mentally, and at the end of it, she counted down the days and left. 

With a desire for anywhere else, Alter traveled around and learned what she could as she went, backpacking her way north through Asia, into Russia, and then west into Europe, never settling down, never quite figuring things out until, after a year or two of travel, she reached England. She was out of money and didn’t have many friends, just an odd command of the language and her magical talents, but with the world still reeling from encroaching darkness, she wanted to help where she’d be most useful, got a work visa, and took the civil service exam for the Ministry.

Halfway through the exam, she was removed when a background check pulled up her Wards service. She was instead brought in front of the Aurors, interrogated for about six hours as to why she was in the country until they were sure she wasn’t a spy, and offered a choice: Immediate deportation, or a chance to work with the Ministry and correct some of the numerous pockets of dark magic that had gone wrong. With no other options, Alter accepted, was issued full immigration status under the name “Ingrid Meyer,” and was sent to train with a squad of four other wizards to become a Hit Wizard.

For years, that was her life. She had a normal life, hung out with work colleagues, and was bright and effervescent as can be, committed to living life to the fullest every step of the way outside of work. When they were on assignment, though, two things happened:

First, no matter what, if any of the other four ran into trouble, Alter would immediately put herself between them and whatever it was. Didn’t matter if it was horrifying fungus, curses, or anything, on assignment Alter considered her squad under her wing and you did not mess with anyone she cared for. The second thing was that she was oddly able to turn herself off. She almost became another person, like someone flipped a switch, able to do absolutely anything and everything to get the job done. It was honestly a bit scary, even to the ministers above her, and some even quietly whispered that they were sending her team on more dangerous assignments in the hopes that she might be rotated out.

And it was her last assignment, of course, that would prove the straw that broke the camel’s back. It was supposed to be routine, a simple raid on a small agrarian island, round up the blood cultists and off to Azkaban, but someone was tipped off, and someone knew her hit squad’s playbook, right down to Alter. It turned into first a hostage situation and then an all-out siege, a massive and unpleasant skirmish through the dark woods with no way off the island. The strength of curses and dark magic warped the land itself, and at the end while the cultists were finally defeated, it was at great cost to the Ministry.

Alter, of course, was immediately taken off of active service and given a full exam from St. Mungo’s. There were some odd issues (she’s never been able to deal with intoxicants quite the same way, as they have a much more pronounced effect on her), and she’d inexplicably grown larger somehow, but apart from that, there wasn’t anything too distressing, apart from, again, the odd way she was suddenly able to switch herself off and on. Still, they didn’t feel good putting her back on active service, and instead offered her early retirement and a land and title in Scotland out of bravery and service. Alter, without many other options, accepted.

And finally, she felt free. She changed her name back to the one she preferred, keeping “Ingrid” as a middle name to explain why people called her that, and accepted her retirement graciously. Alter set about fixing things up on the estate, stocking it with magical creatures and regular creatures alike, also developing part of the land so she could raise cows and sheep. Without the need to switch off, she seemed much more at peace, entertaining guests, being her bright and odd self, babbling constantly and treating every guest like they were her best friend and family. She also adopted a much different aesthetic, attiring herself more to her claimed home’s vast countryside and incorporating older styles, things she’d seen in books, and generally what she could find as “country attire.“ 

Through the end of her service and retirement, she’d had more than a few people show interest in her, though for a while she’d managed to completely confound several people by, when asked if she’d like to come back to their place, smiling politely and asking, ”…why?“ She had her fill of nights where she wasn’t lonely, of course, a few men and even more women, but nothing particularly stuck. But one person stuck out above all the rest. With her, Alter never felt like she had to be anything, like she had to do anything other than what the two of them wanted. She was the last person Alter told before leaving for the fateful island, the first person Alter told she was okay when she got back, a constant guest at the country manor where Alter kept her estate, using occasional hunting and fishing to stave off the darker urges and always on the list at every party.

But while the two connected on some level, they stayed apart, Alter never wanting to infect her closest friend and confidante with the odd distance, with that darkness. But one day, about a year or two after Alter took her title, her friend confided something: First, that she’d been proposed to but she didn’t want to accept, and second, that she felt some odd ties and weight to Alter. Alter agreed, and the two decided that a month or two would be enough space to figure things out. Finally, after two months, Alter took a rather odd step. Rather than apparating, she flew her hunting hipogriff to her friend’s house in her shooting clothes and, once let inside, offered a proposition: She was an eccentric, but that worked, and she would love for the two of them to be eccentric together, but wouldn’t push it. If the eccentricity was too much, she’d leave her friend space and the two of them could go back to what they had.

In a scene that’s become a major joke and a minor source of embarrassment for Alter, the two rode off back to Alter’s manse and agreed they’d rather be eccentric together than apart. Arrangements were made for a small elopement and a civil partnership a few weeks later, and while her friend’s family did sort of disapprove of her marrying a wild and eccentric immigrant, Alter’s demeanor and stature was enough to convince them it wasn’t a mutable statement. The two resumed reading to each other nightly, gardening, practicing duels, enjoying their lands, and life in general

This peace lasted until, with the resurgence of magic, another representative came to Alter’s home. This one she sent packing, and the next two, but the fourth from the Ministry wasn’t asking. They needed her back, as there was a possibility that the recent statute breaches had dark origins. Alter agreed to join, but it caused numerous arguments between herself and her spouse, as well as worry that Alter would be thrown back into danger headfirst. But Alter knows danger always comes sooner or later, and she wants to stop it before it gets to those she cares for.

Connections:  - Alter’s spouse, the two of them live on a manse in Scotland in Alter’s barony and enjoy being eccentric nobility together, I’m leaving a lot of it open other than their marriage, that they’re relatively non-toxic with each other, and the broken engagement.

- Ministers and investigative aurors as well as other hit witches and wizards who would remember Alter from her time in the Ministry and probably have a great many thoughts about her reactivation. 

Future plot ideas: Alter’s "dark side” getting a little out of control, tensions between her home life and her job at the ministry, her past catching up with her, intrigue with dark wizards, a family reunion of some sort.

FAMILY

Mother: Miriam Simcha Meira Father: Unknown Siblings: Numerous “sisters"  Pets: Lys, her Irish setter, Bladeclaw the Terror, her hunting hipogriff Children: None Spouse: Open, but there is one.

MAGICAL

Wand: Willow, Dragon Heartstring, 15” Basic education: Received a pagan education in magic and wand use until eighteen Higher/other education: Combat/hex/curse training during her time in the Wards Lineage: Blooded, but unsure of how much. She’s never found any info on her father Skills: Hexes, curses, in general dueling spells, some minor memory charms and the like as well. Objects: A petrified piece of the willow tree her wand comes from

SOME FACTS

Smoking: Not a great idea, she doesn’t know how her body will react Drinks Alcohol: Very small amounts Worst Habit: Bites her nails Most Common Misconception about them: That she’s some kind of avenging angel or Darth Vader figure Biggest Fear: That the dark, switched-off part of her she used for her work will win Greatest Strength: Has never let anything stand in her way Greatest Weakness: Way too overconfident and throws herself into danger far too easily Weapons: Apart from her wand, she’s fairly capable at hand-to-hand and is something of a trained savant when it comes to knowledge and recall

INTIMATE FACTS

One Wish: Settle down, world peace, live her own life Greatest Secret? She keeps her lives very separate, maybe one or two people know both parts of her Ideal Kiss? Quiet hours of the morning, just before waking Sleeps In? Sometimes, when she can Virgin? Hardly What turns them on? A deep emotional and intimate connection with someone

RANDOM FACTS