Rowena Callaghan

[Rowena]

Name: Rowena Callaghan
Nicknames: Ro' or Call' are the most common nicknames, if there are any others then she's not aware of them. Outside her friendship group in the pack she actually likes her full name to be used more often than not; it's simply a preference thing.
Race: Werewolf; bitten.
Occupation: Pack member / Midwife.
Gender: Female.
Skin Color: Caucasian.
Age: 380.
Clothing: Smart-casual seems to sum up Rowena's style of dress. Even when hanging around the Hotel her clothes are on the tailored side of informal, fitted jeans, cotton pants and t-shirts or feminine tops of one cut or another. She has a modern American elegance to her and dresses much like a professional woman, sometimes a pencil skirt or a blouse but it depends entirely upon her mood from day to day. When the occasion calls for it Rowena is more than happy to get dressed up and owns a few floor length dresses, dress tops and skirts that would be fitting for any such occasion. When it comes to footwear she likes smart, sophisticated shoes and has her fair share of dress heels, around the Hyperion though, for comforts sake, she usually wears something flat, or at least a kitten heel since there's really no point being uncomfortable in her own home; at least that's the way she sees it. All that said she has been known to wander around in her pyjamas or sweat pants from time to time, again depending on her mood, and more often than not such attire used to coincide wit the moon's cycle.
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 132lbs.
Tattoos: None.
Piercings: Her ears, just once.
Jewellery: The only staple in Rowena's jewellery wardrobe is her watch. She owns a locket that she's extremely fond of and wears from time to time, usually only for special occasions though; she'd be heartbroken if she lost it. Until recently she also wore a gold wedding band on her left hand, but she has taken it off and it has remained in her bedroom ever since.

Rowena's Locket

Body Modifications: A pale, thin scar follows Rowena's collarbone horizontally, she's somewhat reticent about it and will usually wear clothes that cover it up. Many pack members, obviously, don't know about it unless they happen to have seen it.

Wolf Form
Build: Similar to a human in musculature, Rowena's wolf form is fairly average, no rippling muscles or stocky weight like some of her pack mates. Because of the human-like muscles she owns, she is able to move just as freely on two legs as she can on four; she is strong and fast and more likely to succeed in a 'flight' attempt than 'fight' one. With large paws a wicked black claws, Rowena has little to no trouble scaling awkward surfaces and balancing on minimal areas of foot space, uneven ground and tricky material.
Height: Bipedal - 6', Quadruped - 3'4"
Weight: 210lbs
Hair: Bright white all over with thick, shaggy 'sleeves' of longer hair reaching down to the elbows of her fore legs, around her shoulders and loosely down her spine much like human hair, though much more coarse. Her coat is generally thick and protective but shorter around her 'forearms' and face.
Eyes: Pale Gold.
Defining Marks: A medium length, but quite bushy tail.

Pack
Pack: Cole's Pack.
Position: Member.
Territory: Cole's territory, roughly half of Los Angeles.

Hair
Length: Swings down to the bottom of her shoulder blades.
Style: More often than not Rowena wears her hair down; the long, smooth layers and lack of curls make her hair manageable in this state, something she's very glad of. If working in any sense of the word she will usually tie her hair back in a high ponytail.
Color: Red-Auburn.

Facial Hair
Length: N/A
Style: N/A.

Eyes
Color: Green-Blue.
Oddities: Like all of her kind, Rowena's eyes will turn the colour of her wolf's when she is feeling something intensely, fear, pain, anger; alternatively she can call up the colour change when she merely wishes to tease or intimidate.

Personality: Upon first impression Rowena Callaghan is strong, smart and even a little sassy; she can happily and skilfully hold her own in a verbal sparring match and usually does so with a smile on her face. Indeed she is not one to insult or scold someone seriously without provocation and reason; the only time she will really lay into someone is if she genuinely feels that there has been an injustice done and she feels it is her place to say something. Rowena is a very passionate individual, many jokes about her being a fiery red-head ensue from this fact but it doesn't make it any less true. Her zeal is tempered by her intelligence though and she tries to maintain a good balance between her head and her heart. She can be a little bit righteous and cares very much for what it right as opposed to what is easy, verbally so. She will almost always opt for the moralistic solution to a problem or situation, even if that doesn't sit well with everyone else, she does what she believes to be right.

Open and passionate, she is happy to be anyone's friend and try to get along with almost all members of the pack, she draws the line at lying to get in someone's good books or to keep the peace but up until that point she is accommodating and genial, frequently ready with a smile and a compliment for her friends. She enjoys spending time with other pack members a great deal whether it be in the music room playing the piano to accompany other musicians or herself being accompanied as she plays the clarinet. She loves to read and will often engage others in conversations about books she has read, or gleaning any recommendations that might be made for what she should read next. Having been a midwife for almost as long as she can remember there is something of the innately maternal about Rowena, though she doesn't let it spill over into anything resembling coddling or mothering pack members younger than she. With that said she is open to giving advice to those seeking it if she happens to be asked, and likes to think she has something of an open door policy when it comes to her friends and family; if they have a problem Rowena would like to believe they feel they could come to her with it if appropriate.

Rowena is despite these warm traits averse to being touched by other pack members, unless she instigates the contact. Most who know her well know that it is nothing personal and she is often very opening to giving others a hug should the mood take her or simply a reassuring touch on the arm. If touched without the unspoken permission, she can turn frigid and tight lipped, almost nostalgic and melancholic in a way; it is her one boundary, her one rule that she cannot seem to grow out of despite the help of the pack.

Weaknesses: As with all lycanthropes, Rowena's main weakness is her innate allergy to silver; it physically burns her skin upon touch and can cause her to become dizzy and nauseated. This can be fatal depending upon length of exposure and the type of contact. On the more individual side of things, Rowena has a personal space issue; unless she initiates physical contact she does not like to be touched by others, not restricted to either sex or any individuals, it is simply a reflex caused by a series of traumatic events in her past.

Abilities: Rowena enjoys all the perks of her kind; heightened senses, stamina, speed, the capacity to jump huge distances without breaking pace and a superhuman healing speed. With her age also comes the ability to control her change during the three nights a month when the moon's pull is the strongest and also change at will any other day of the month. Rowena is a certified midwife; though the official certificate is obviously relatively recent she has almost four hundred years of experience under her belt and is something of an authority on lycanthropic pregnancy and births.

She has played the piano since she was a child and upon joining Cole's pack also took up the clarinet. She is familiar with many forms of formal dancing, both traditional Scottish dances from her youth which she can also play the piano accompaniment for, and the more modern, wide ranging counterparts - she secretly enjoys watching Dancing With The Stars. She is a decent cook and her previous status as a 'homemaker' has afforded her simple skills such as sewing and knitting. She is currently learning French and dabbling in a little German and she speaks fluent Scottish Gaelic, though she rarely does so, hence the desire to pick up more mainstream languages.

Weapons: None.

Prized Possessions: Though she values her clarinet, a present from a long time ago, Rowena's most prized possessions are her white gold, engraved locket and her golden wedding band; though she no longer wears the latter.

Rowena's Wedding Band

Clarinet

Home(s): The Hyperion Hotel with the rest of Cole's pack.

History: Born in Argyll, Scotland in 1626, Rowena was the middle of three daughters and two sons of Alistair and Liusaidh Callaghan. There was nothing remarkable about the family amidst the small township they occupied, the family was well respected by their peers and had close personal ties to many other families in the area. Not poor but not rich, they lived contentedly between the two; the five children were raised in a warm, safe and very loving environment though they knew the value of hard work in order to keep their home and their life style in a relatively comfortable stratum. By day they worked in the town here and there, and by night they dined at home for with friends and occasionally attended the somewhat less formal 'ball' type events.

Liusaidh functioned as the town's midwife and when Keir, the oldest of the Callaghan brood, was married and his wife went into labour in the family home Rowena was on hand to help her mother. From then on she expressed an interest in midwifery and learned everything her mother had to teach. Liusaidh would not live to deliver more of her own grandchildren though; with Rowena in her mid twenties, now married and 'Rowena McCain', but childless and still living close to her family, tuberculosis swept through the town and the matriarch of the Callaghan family was one of the many felled by the disease, untreatable at the time.

Less than a month later a group of men came to the town and stayed at the Inn, asking questions of the locals with a kind of quiet desperation that drew more attention the longer they stayed. At the end of a week one of the men came to Rowena's home whilst her husband was out at work; since he was on his own, she permitted him entrance. Once inside he began to ask her about her occupation, the group of six men had eventually discovered that she was the sole midwife in the town though it had taken all week to prise a shred of information out of the insular community. When she acknowledged the fact he released a slew of more complicated questions relating to pregnant women and miscarriages and Rowena became increasingly concerned about the way he spoke and the connotations his questions carried. When she began to return the interrogation in kind, asking if he knew a woman who was with child personally, he grew obviously anxious as to how far he was raising her suspicions - she did not seem the type to leave well enough alone. He left abruptly, giving little in the way of polite excuses and that night Rowena expressed her concern over the men who were staying in their town to her husband.

Cairbre McCain was indeed curious as his wife, but was not overly concerned about their actions or questions, passing it off as and oddity of the outsiders. Rowena was not at all convinced but said nothing more on the matter, the men left the town in the morning and everything seemed to return to normal, though she could not shake the concern she held over the questions she had been asked and the inquisitiveness they had sparked in her. Merely two nights later her questions were to be answered. The men returned under the cover of darkness and broke into the McCain household. With superior strength and speed they quickly subdued Cairbre and gagged and bound his wife before any sort of fight could be put up by either of the surprised and fearful couple. Rowena had no hope of fighting against them; she was rendered unconscious lest her screams, however dampened by the cloth in her mouth, rouse the sleeping town and the next thing the Scottish woman knew she was on a boat, surrounded by her kidnappers.

They were ready for fits of tears, screaming and demanding to be taken home, but instead Rowena merely asked them calmly where they were taking her and why, how far along the pregnant woman was and what her symptoms were; she masked her fear well, only a fool would be truly calm in such a situation. Stunned, but not into silence they recounted to her the aliments of not one, but three pregnant women in their home on the Isle of Bute, to the south of Argyll. They appealed to her humanity and told her there had been a midwife in their midst but she her self had perished whilst birthing her own child and now they feared gravely for the three women whom were with child. Rowena's town had been the first they had travelled to that had had a midwife, they told her, but they meant her no harm and the red-head agreed to help them and their wives as long as she were returned to her home afterwards. They agreed.

Upon reaching the island it was another two days of weary travelling before they reached the large, imposing castle like structure and Rowena requested that she be taken to the women immediately. She was ushered through drafty halls furnished with threadbare rugs and tapestries to a large bedroom chamber; she watched uncomfortably as they unlocked the door from the outside and steered her inside. Three women turned to look at her, each about three months pregnant from what Rowena could, or rather could not see, three beds filled the room along with several overstuffed but careworn pieces of furniture and she realised very suddenly that the women were being kept in the room. Before she could turn to the men and ask just what was going on they left, locking the door behind them, and she heard footsteps and muttered voices recede down the hallway.

The women watched Rowena cautiously, one even drew away from her as far as she could, and quickly she told them who she was and how she had gotten there. She checked them over, noting one of the women was very weak and dizzy and was unable to get up form the bed she lay in; the midwife's worry intensified ten fold as she begged them to tell her what was going on. The first of many revelations was the information that the men who had kidnapped her from Argyll were not human, they were werewolves. Rowena listened in astonished silence as each of the three women told her how they had been kidnapped just as she. They told her how they had heard that the Alpha male of the pack -two terms that Rowena needed clarified for her- was locked in a battle for territory with another group of wolves and that they had suffered huge losses to their number. Mainly the females, including both the Alpha and Beta, it was decided that with another pack encroaching upon their terrain it was far too risky for any of the remaining females to have children.

That was where the human women came in. They had been taken from their homes, brought to the remote castle and raped; a human female carrying a wolfen offspring was at less risk of something going awry with the pregnancy, therefore more likely to carry a child to full term. They had then been kept in the castle under lock and key lest they decide to attempt to escape back to their homes. Horrified, Rowena asked after the previous midwife she had been told about, but it had apparently been a lie to acquire Rowena's sympathy and it had worked. She knew she couldn't simply leave the women with such devious, degenerate men and so got to work nursing them back to health from their malnourished, sickly states. It was obvious to her that she would not be returning home in the near future, not least because the women had another six months before they would give birth. Hopefully.

Rowena was exhausted and much thinner and pallid within a month of her arrival to the Isle and often failed to take her own advice to eat and rest. It wasn't that the men of the pack were especially abusive or cruel, besides keeping the women indoors all day, every day they were merely cold and unfeeling towards the plight they inadvertently inflicted upon their captives. Rowena pined for her home and her husband and worried constantly about the women under her care the more she learnt about lycanthropy and saw the way it affected them to be carrying an... inhuman foetus the more angry at the wolves she became. She protested time and again that the women needed warmer, more comfortable conditions and better care than she was able to give with the paltry means at her disposal, if the Alpha wanted his precious new wolves to be born. But time and again he refused her, even going as far as to strike the insubordinate female when she suggested that they moved out of the castle. There was no way he was giving up what was a generations old pack home.

Despite her best efforts an increasingly weary Rowena lost one of the mothers and her child before she reached full term, another gave a still baby and the third died within a day of her child being born. The baby then perished within a week, leaving the 'experiment' fruitless and the Alpha male mad with rage; he blamed Rowena. The remaining woman was murdered, her usefulness expired and the midwife was brought to him, still reeling and emotional from suffering so much so loss in so short a space of time, for she had lived with the women for sixth months, grown to care for them deeply and for their unborn children. She was drawn into a verbal argument with the Alpha, she had never truly 'learned her place' when it came to the pack dynamic, as an outsider she was more or less worse off than the Omega. She demanded to be returned to her home town and the Alpha -Dermid- refused, declaring that she had to stay with the pack and that they would try again with new female 'specimens'; in a disgusted rage Rowena very nearly lunged at Dermid, she was stopped only by the fighters who held her by the arms before the throne like arrangement in the great hall.

Dermid took hold of Rowena and forced onto her back on the stone flags - not a difficult task given his already superior strength add to her relative weakness. Enraged he tore away her cotton blouse, pinning her down by her throat he took a dagger and sliced along her collarbone. Cutting into his wrist, and mixing their blood he turned her there and then, pinning her with his weight and whispering in to her hair that she had no choice but to stay with his pack now. He claimed her as his own right there and then, the degradation and violation reducing her to strangled cries of protest and tears. Afterwards she was dragged back to the room adjacent to the one the pregnant women had been living in and was tossed unceremoniously onto the floor, left there on her own with the humiliation and the revelation spinning through her head; she was one of them.

For days she refused to speak, refused to eat and barely drank enough water whilst the wound at her clavicle head itself. She knew if she stayed she would be forced into caring for another group of pregnant women; as far as she understood it she now had countless years ahead of her and Rowena did not doubt Dermid's determination to continue his twisted experiments and lurid kidnappings of innocent young women in order to 'preserve' his pack. Even though she was confused, weak and completely at a loss with how to deal with her new state of being, she decided she had to escape. It wasn't easy and it took weeks for her to build up her strength again, her renewed appetite taken as an admittance of submission and acceptance by the male wolves that made it a little easier, but never the less the actual event was something of an ordeal and something of a test in stamina.

She escaped to mainland Scotland once more and returned home, though she never entered her own home again. She had learnt during her captivity that lycanthropes that had no control over their change were dangerous at the full moon, the beast that whispered in the back of her mind constantly honestly terrified the young woman. She knew she couldn't put her family at risk, the town she had loved so much growing up could never be her home again and it was best if they thought she was gone for good, seeing them again even to say goodbye would be too hard, and she would be tempted to stay.

Rowena travelled across Scotland and then south, stopping here and there to work as she needed to but generally never staying in one place for too long. She avoided towns and settlements when the full moon came around, restraining herself if she could but there was little she could really do besides try and avoid people. It was during her travels that she met Cole's pack. Rowena was distrusting at first, her first pack experience had ended with her violation and turning after all, and she found it difficult to be in the same room as Cole Stanton and Steven Manning in particular for a time. But first impressions of namely the females in the pack gave her enough courage to join with them, Dia the Alpha female especially.

Since that time she has warmed and grown and is able to separate herself from the male wolves who abused her so in the past and the ones in the pack she calls family. Despite this, personal space is something she is very wary of and she doesn't really like to be touched all that much, unless she initiates the contact that is. During her time with the pack, Rowena has kept up with her midwifery, something that is a huge part of her life and her personality and something she is unlikely to ever give up; she has gone as far as to get herself certified as a modern midwife. She has also recently taken her maiden name back, from McCain to Callaghan, and stopped wearing her golden wedding band, a big step for Rowena who had in truth let go of her life in Scotland a long time ago, but only recently felt able to part with the two remaining shreds that she had clung onto.