MAIN VERSE
Thera is the last Guardian of Gaia, a group of once-mortals chosen by the Goddess in the late BC to serve as Guardians of the animals.She’s 2000+ years old (2,056 in 2022, obviously less in historical eras). She’s immortal as far as ageing and serious illnesses, but not to wounds or injury - until approximately 2014, when she became fully immortal (she does not know this). Through the centuries she’s spent her life trying to keep herself ‘invisible’.When not actively at work as a Guardian, she spends her time just making her way through history, interacting with other people along the way. She doesn’t want or need publicity, renown, or the media pack breathing down her neck, nor is she inclined to be all fierce and ‘grr’ all the time. Generally she’ll come across as a (independent/irritating but otherwise) normal person.She has powers. She can communicate with animals, manipulate earth, air, fire and water, has extra strength, speed and agility.She knows gods. They're of the Greek pantheon, and are the versions that appeared in the series Hercules the Legendary Journeys and Xena Warrior Princess, given those are her 'verse of origin. She can, in an extreme emergency, call on them for help, but she tries her absolute damnedest not to go running to them every time she hits a snag. (NB, if your muse is one of those characters, you will not be expected to conform to her headcanon or backstory. RP with your muse will be in their own AU! :))She's independently wealthy, the money spread through off-shore accounts and trust funds in various names. Also she has shares in various vacation rental properties around the world (also in various names) which she uses to stay in as need be. (NB: amounts and how much cash she has access to depends on the time period - in most times she still has to work for a living as well!)Animals will be her first priority. Always. If there's a dozen humans in danger and one animal, she will save the animal first.She is sworn and loyal to Gaia, and will remain so.
HISTORICAL 'VERSESA catch-all for 'verses set at various points in history. Thera has been around a very long time, and can turn up in almost any historical setting from around 12BC onwards. Her general background remains the same, though only to the date in question, ie that point in her life.RPs are tagged 'Historical AU', and cover any fandom/’verse based on Earth between around 12BC and the present day (examples - POTC, Hornblower, Sons of Liberty, Hercules/Xena, Turn: Washington’s Spies, The Mummy, Indiana Jones, X-Files).Always open to other fandoms, crossovers and fandomless historical muses.
FULL BACKSTORY
Name: Thera Pardalis
Aliases: Theresa D'Gaea, Therese of Lands End, Potnia Theron, Guardian of the Cats, The Last Guardian, Twice Chosen, Katarina Del Rosa.
Affiliations: Gaia, the Guardians (now dormant).(Scroll down for OOC.)
Thera is the Last Guardian of Gaia. The Guardians were created by the goddess over 2,000 years ago to serve Her in protecting the birds and animals that lived on land, air and sea. To help them do this, Gaia spread among them a portion of Her power; the ability to communicate with animals, and to manipulate the natural elements. They were chosen from among mortal humans, Called, tested and voluntarily inducted as Guardians as they were required, usually to replace a Guardian who had perished. Once in the service of the Goddess they ceased to age and became resistant to most diseases, but could still be killed by accident or attack.Thera herself was born in Lands End, Britannia (now Cornwall, England) in the equivalent of June 6th, 35 BC. She was Called as a Guardian in 13 BC and made her way to Athens, Greece, to answer that Call, a journey that took several months. During her service as a Guardian she made the acquaintance of several of the Olympian Gods, in particular Ares, Zeus, Strife, Aphrodite and Cupid, an association that remains to this day.She became the 'Last' in 30AD, when Gaia chose to withdraw from the outer worlds, taking the other Guardians with Her. Thera She left behind, as Her last sentinel in the world of mankind. This was actually to Thera's credit, Gaia considering her the strongest and most fit, but Thera did not become aware of this until afterward. In the shorter term, with her adopted family suddenly gone, she broke down with grief and began taking revenge on those she saw as being to blame - ie, humans. It was messy, and needed the intervention of Ares, the God of War, to stop her and bring her back to herself. All of this, especially the loss of the Guardians, is still a sore spot for her.Thera has been travelling through the centuries since. She renews her identity at various times in order to cover her long lifespan, and has many investments under her previous and current names. Modern day communications have made it more difficult to stay invisible, and in addition there are greater threats to Earth (and therefore her Goddess) than have been known previously. With this in mind, Thera allowed SHIELD to discover her, and for a time was employed by them as a consultant - though it's highly likely they only allowed this so they could keep an eye on her.
She took up residence on the Helicarrier, though she did spend some time groundside. She advised on environmental and animal logistics issues, including geology and occasionally the prediction of natural disasters. She also become the Head of ... well, she was Animal Services following the transfer of her friend Lupin Ferus. She took care of issues involving animals (pets or otherwise) on the Carrier or with other personnel. She also continued to contribute time and money to non-SHIELD animal services and shelters. Occasionally she is assigned to help SHIELD in a more direct capacity as an agent in the field.Following the attack by HYDRA (events of The Winter Soldier), she returned to her own devices and her own duties as a Guardian (and generally freelancing in situations that come along).
OOC
Thera is an original character created by me for the HTLJ/Xena fandom back in around 1998. The Guardians of Gaia are also my creation from that same time.Generally, Thera has been around long enough to try not to take day to day life entirely seriously. There are times to be serious, be it for a fight or a mission, but she refuses to let that define her all the time. In between she prefers to just relax and enjoy life - food, drink, parties, shopping. Shiny things. Taunting her with a lazer pointer is not funny, just saying. She much prefers to get along with those around her (assuming they're not actively trying to harm or kill her).
Her downfall in this is that she doesn't especially try to get people to like her, and she generally doesn't get too close to others. She has walked more or less alone for centuries, and finds this a very difficult habit to break.
HEADCANONS
Element control
Earth, air, fire and water.She can manipulate electricity as well, but very rarely does so since it's difficult to control and leaves burns on her hands.Of the others, air is the easiest to use. Fire is easy to start but can be difficult to keep under control. Water is heavier and takes a bit more effort - snow and ice are variable, depending on how packed they are, for example an ice cube or thin coating on a pond are easy, moving or separating something like a solid ice floe is much more difficult. Earth is the heaviest and most difficult, but this also depends on the consistency - sand, pebbles, tilled soil etc are easier than bigger rocks or solid, packed earth.Thera will use the elements either directly (taking away the air someone's using to breathe) or in combination (stirring up air (easy) into a whirlwind and letting it pick up sand or dirt (earth, more difficult) rather than trying to work with the earth itself).Other tricks have included lifting water from an underground table to the surface and making quicksand (depends on how porous the soil/sand is).Communication with Animals
This ability is not exactly the same as 'speaking with animals', a la Dr Dolittle. The communcation is telepathic, but it takes the form of emotions and images rather than speech. Words are possible, but that depends on how many words the animal itself knows. For example a grey parrot with a big vocab or a domestic animal who knows some human words.As far as the mental images go, Thera can give or receive these from nearby creatures; she can see what they see, or they can tell her what they hear or smell. This isn't always foolproof, as the animal may not recognise what it is that they're sensing - for example if they don't know what a rifle or semi-automatic is, they will only show her humans with long objects in their hands, and it's up to her to figure out what she's seeing.She can send mental orders when necessary, mostly connected to warnings or emotions, to run away or take cover. In extreme cases she can outright command or control an animal, to go or not attack, but she uses this only when there's no other choice. She can also use this to calm them in cases of pain or fear.Her communication is also affected by the relative intelligence of the animal, and even more importantly its nature. Dolphins are intelligent but overconfident, buffalo and hippos are just plain stubborn, sharks and crocodiles are ancient, prehistoric eating machines who work on instinct and/or just don't see why they should listen to this ... whoever she is, anyhow.Supernatural Beasts
Werewolves, griffins, pegasi, and other not-quite-natural critters who happen to have animal or animal-like forms. Generally, the closer the entity is to human-like thought and reason, the less Thera is able to communicate with them through her powers. With a werewolf for example, when they are in their wolf form she can speak to them, in their human form she can't at all. Any partial or half-half forms depend on how close they are mentally to which end of the scale.There's also sometimes a kind of 'language problem', in that creatures from another dimensionshe finds it more difficult to make the mental connection or to be understood than with 'natural' Earth animals.Mental shields
Being sensitive to the presence of animals and almost every living thing in her immediate area, Thera has developed some very solid passive mental shields to keep out the continuous noise. She's not as good at actively shielding from an attack, but she's pretty tough to break through to.Partial immortality
The Guardians were made immortal to ageing or serious illness, but not to wounding or injury. This was a deliberate choice by Gaia to keep them from following the Titans and Olympians by branching off on their own.This changed for Thera in 2014, in response to the greater threats coming from other Realms. She is now fully immortal, but she does not know it.Enhanced speed, strength, agility
Thera's abilities follow those of the big cats. She can carry/lift more than she should, her reflexes are very quick, she can jump and climb better than aberage. She's very fast at a sprint, but endurance running she has to stay in training for.
Gaia
Thera was Called by the Gaia soon after her 22nd birthday, on Midsummer, 13BC (see Timeline). She has served faithfully ever since, first simply as a Guardian and then as the Last, Gaia’s final sentinel after the Goddess withdrew from the outer world.“She is my Reason and my Life … and I will serve Her until I die.” It’s a pledge Thera takes incredibly seriously, and a calling that has engrained itself into her very soul. “A Guardian isn’t what I am - it’s who I am.” She has turned down the offer of other Realms and immortality itself in order to keep that faith, that part of herself safe and to her core. On some things she prays she’ll never have to choose, but if it happens, Gaia will win, and Thera will walk away.From time to time, though, it gets harder. Within herself, Thera waits for the time when Gaia will return, the day when She will reclaim Her power and the world that belongs to Her. It’s a day Thera looked forward to for two millennia - but sometimes, just lately, she begins to wonder if it will occur. With everything that’s happened, with the human race infesting the planet and trampling everything in its path, will Gaia have the strength? Will She even survive? The thoughts are shoved away, desperately buried as quickly as they appear - but like a pebble in a pond, they never quite go away.
The Olympians
Thera and the Guardians were originally created for the Hercules TLJ and Xena universe in 1998, and as a result, several of the Olympian gods of that universe are part of her backstory. Some parts of Thera’s history fit with the Herc/Xena canon, others with my own stories written back at the time of her original creation.(If your muse is one of those characters, you won’t be expected to conform to these headcanons or backstory. RP with your muse will be in their own AU!)Currently, most of the gods remain on Olympus, pursuing their own interests, but some have chosen to amuse themselves by taking more direct interaction with the modern mortal world.
Money & Property
Thera figured out long ago that currency was a necessary part of survival in the human world. It’s become ever more important in modern times, but all through history it’s been a story of the rich trampling the poor - despite the efforts of various kinds of Robin Hood.With that in mind, she’s made it a point to store when she can; from stashes of gold coin in caves to more modern savings accounts, and particularly investments. Over the years she has established a multitude of funds and accounts in various countries and under various names. There are Swiss and off-shore accounts, trust funds - some genuine and donating to animal charities, others for the benefit of fictional dependants (who in due course she impersonates and accesses the money - also helping disguise her long lifespan).She has many investments in shares and companies via managed funds, particularly ‘ethical investments’ now that they’re available, but her main interest has been in property. Thera is either owner or part/share owner of properties all over the world - again, through brokers and under various names. Commerical, residential and accommodation chains, as well as a collection of vacation rental properties. These serve a dual purpose of both an income stream and providing a private place to land during her travels around the world - she simply books the rental under (one of her) own names for the time she needs. It’s more private than a hotel, and she only needs to pay what her fellow shareholders would receive if the place were let to a client instead.
Lab Rat
Thera has been captured and experimented on twice in her life - this is not including the times she’s been caught, beaten or otherwise tortured, only the times she ended up on a lab table. The first was in Russia in 1893, the second in Nazi Germany in 1944. She doesn’t clearly recall whether the people who held her then were actually members of Hydra, but they were definitely part of Hitler’s scientific branch - which to her mind, given Hydra’s reputation of the time, is enough to lump them together.
Education and Skills
2,000 years is a lot of time to fill in, and Thera has spent quite a bit of it undertaking various courses and education programs according to her interests. Many of these she has taken multiple times over the years, both as refreshers and to update on new developments, and to make sure the dates on her paperwork coincide with her apparent age. Her attendance also provides her with official qualifications that assist her in her work as a Guardian (it’s easier to get somewhere with a qualification than just blow in off the street!) and also with a number of contacts within the academic and research communities.These days she prefers to study online, and may have 2-3 different courses on the go at any one time.Some of those qualifications are:Degree in Environmental and Earth Sciences (Cambridge, 1982, 2011)Level 3 Diploma in Veterinary Nursing (Warwickshire, 1995, 2005, 2018)Secretarial/Business management (Oxford & County Secretarial College)Associate Degree Forensic Science/Crime scene investigation (Hilbert, last 2020)Archaeology (Egypt) (Cambridge 1884, 1923, 1950, 1993)Archaeology (Egypt) (Sorbonne 1924)Archaeology (Classical), Environmental Archaeology (OxFord, various dates)Bioethics, Earth and Environmental Engineering (Columbia, 2012, 2014)Animal Cruelty Investigator Level III (NACIS, 1990, 2003, 2015 2021)Veterinary Nursing/Zoological medicine (Various)Aviation Maintenance Technician (Helicopter)
SHIELD
Bottom line? Thera doesn’t give two shits about SHIELD. She cares for some of the people within it, but from her experience the organisation itself is just another group who think they know best about everything. She signed up with them in the first place to further her own ends, using their ‘eyes’ to watch out for extra-terrestrial threats to Earth, and in her ‘Pre’ universe she’ll continue to do that. In the ‘Post’ universe after the HYDRA revelation she’s bailed out and is perfectly happy going back to where and what she was before SHIELD became part of her life. If some of her friends happen to call on her for help she’ll answer, but she’ll shed no tears about the agency itself.HYDRA
Screw HYDRA. On a personal level, Thera dislikes them simply by dint of them being, or having been, Nazis. She spent most of World War 2 in Europe, both doing her work as a Guardian and working for the Underground in France and Germany. In 1944 she was captured by some soldiers who had seen her using her elemental powers and ended up a 'test subject’ for a group of Nazi scientists. She never saw or heard anything to definitely identify her captors as 'HYDRA’, but since they were Nazis and they were scientists … that’s close enough.As far as the current SHIELD vs HYDRA situation, she sees it as just another round of humanity’s endless power struggles.However, she’s become involved in those 'rounds’ often enough before. She’d need some persuasion to assist with kicking some (more) HYDRA butt, but maybe not awfully much.
Weapons & Armour
Weapons:
Thera has been around long enough that she’s seen and used many weapons since their inception; not only has this been part of her job as a Guardian, she’s been friends with the Greek God of War for most of her life. Some she’s gifted at - others she can use, but has had to school herself to use them well. Still others, she’s more likely to injure herself than an enemy, and prefers to leave well alone.She’s made her way through hundreds of individual weapons in her time, whether they ended up damaged, lost or outdated, but once she settles on a make or model she likes it’s difficult to get her preferences to shift. There is, however, one thing that has lasted her entire life - a blackwood staff given to her by Ares early in their association. Short, sturdy and bound in gold, it’s equipped with magics that make it almost unbreakable - and with six-inch steel blades that spring from either end. Thera refers to this staff as an old friend, and it is one of the things she would save at the risk, or cost, of her own life.Armour:
Thera has two main forms of armour; one is an enchanted set of leather that she has used since ancient times. The other is more modern and less conspicuous, being to appearances a set of black motorcycle leathers. This outfit is lined with plates of Kevlar, providing both protection and a degree of camoflage in the modern world.She also draws protection from the properties of the triple-moon necklace given her by Gaia at her induction as a Guardian.