Name: Kiri Stephens Occupation: Owner of Tūmatarau Apothecary Age: Appears 48; actually 49 (September 4) Sexuality: Lesbian Pronouns: She/Her Species: Vampire Clan/Pack/Coven: Clan Lomidze Hometown: Auckland, New Zealand Relationship Status: Married (I guess??) Personality Traits: Intelligent, efficient, organized, patient, ruthless, calculating, standoffish, arrogant, vindictive
Biography (tw: racism/colonialism, kidnapping, torture, death)
Magic was something that Kiri was born into, though in her community, they didn't call it that. Her family comes from a long line of tohunga, Maori priests and healers who used the natural world and its abundances for their craft. However, it was never called witchcraft, for fear of persecution from settlers who already perceived them as primitive for their practices. Her own parents and siblings preferred to assimilate into the tidy little boxes that the world crafted for them, while Kiri craved learning more. She wanted to fill in the all of the gaps in knowledge left behind by colonial violence that stamped out anything that was different.
So at 18, she left Aotearoa behind and set off for the United States, seeking out an advanced degree in biochemistry while also learning all she could about her history and practices that have since been lost.
The wider world of the supernatural is opened up to her while she is trying to get her PhD in traditional Maori practices combined with the latest pharmaceutical endeavors, using it as a way to carve her way into the world she demanded. It is through this that she met an elder, someone who still seemingly held knowledge from a long-forgotten time, and eventually encourages Kiri to make her way to Port Leiry.
Once there, Kiri learned that the world was so much wider than she was initially led to believe. The Circle of the Phial welcomed her, and for the first time in her life, Kiri felt like she had a proper place somewhere. No longer was she chased away from knowledge that she felt entitled to know, and her mentor was thrilled to have someone to pass along said knowledge to carry on their culture, rather than led it fade away over time. Combined with Kiri's natural talent and her scientific background, she built a reputation for herself as particularly skilled with developing drugs and salves for illnesses and injuries, that were grounded in both traditional techniques as well as scientific advances. Kiri flourishes, reaching for higher goals and with them, riskier substances, particularly in ways to not only heal witches from attacks by other supernatural creatures, but to provide an offensive edge as well.
It's this ambition that has Kiri crossing into Westriver Gardens one day by herself, in search of a rare plant that had particularly potent numbing capabilities, originally local to her homeland but now transplanted into the Pacific Northwest. She doesn't anticipate being stopped by the owner of the Gardens herself, and is even more surprised that she manages to get away wholly unscathed. Rather than a threat, Laure proved to be the next person to change Kiri's life.
For the first time in decades, her ambition takes a backseat to this new development in her life. They dance around each other for months before taking the next leap, and after that, everything is history. She spends the next 12 years happily thriving in her relationship, and seeing what perks came with loving someone who was immortal. With it came bursts of creativity, unbound by issues of cost or material. The apothecary she runs leans into the tourist trap notions of spells and curses, while also providing all supernatural creatures with a variety of magical potions and enhancements. She reconnects with the family she thought she had walked away from, in the form of a niece and a protege. It's the closest thing to bliss that Kiri has ever been able to imagine.
What she kept secret from everyone, including her wife, were Kiri's recent experiments into new types of potions that, instead of enhancing traits, would work to suppress them. They were meant to be a means of easing this way of life to the people who were unwillingly brought into it. A potion to artificially flavor animal blood to mimic the qualities of a human or a witch, an elixir that allowed a wolf to sleep through the full moon in peace without the loss of control, a combination of herbs to help quiet the voices from the other side. An arguably noble motive, but one that could lead to disastrous consequences if exploited.
She never got far in these endeavors, sidetracked by the upcoming ceremony where she would transition from witch to vampire. She assumed that she would have eternity to continue working on such things, even without her natural magic.
The initial attack is a blur, iron tang in her mouth as an athame slices across her throat. Not deep enough to kill, but enough to spill the blood that is necessary for this ruse. She can still sometimes smell the way the crimson viscera poured out onto the concrete. She assumes it means her death.
She has never been so wrong.
When she wakes, she sees only her. For three years, she lives, solely at Lana's discretion. The vampire says it's because she needs a witch, to undo what another has done, but even if that was within her realm of magic, Kiri refuses. She languishes in the dark, provided updates on the outside world, on her wife, from a cruel voice, and she feels her mind begin to fray.
The masquerade is the final straw. Lana brings Kiri as her date, so she can see with her own eyes the indiscretions of her wife. She watches as Laure flaunts around a younger creature, a vampire, dressed in one of Kiri's favorite gowns. She watches as she dances with a human, whispering sweetly in her ear. She watches as her wife stands three feet away and is unable to hear Kiri's internal screaming while Lana bites into her neck.
At the end of the night, she returns to the cramped space that has become hers over the last several years. When Lana inevitably visits her, the pain and humiliation have twisted her into something inconsolable. So she begs, and Lana provides. It is a far cry from the detailed plan that she had created with her wife, but Lana takes her time. Shows her the closest thing to gentleness that she's felt in three years, and it ends with the snap of her neck.
The Game So Far
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. With her new bloodlust and raging emotions, she makes her presence known to both Laure and Morgan, uncaring of the mess that she leaves behind. When the dust settles, Kiri decides that she is going to continue living her life, with or without her wife. She reopens her apothecary which had been shuttered after her supposed ‘death’, and not so subtly reminds people in the community that even without her magic, she has a wealth of knowledge that can be passed on to others.
Plot Ideas
Apothecary Customers - Kiri has a reputation within the witch community as one of the premier potion-makers in the city, and a reputation within the human community as an herbalist whose remedies rival those of some over the counter drugs. Kiri will provide the science to those who need it, but has also played the role of a “folk herbalist”, because some people will believe anything if it’s dressed up in mysticism.
Flings - Kiri spent most of her adult life in a committed relationship (with a great many threesomes) and the last three years in captivity. Combined with her wildly swinging emotions, she has a tremendously great time rewarding those who are bold enough to buy her a drink.
Hard-Liners - Any witch or vampire who frowns upon how Kiri is still heavily involved in Phial and witch business despite the fact that she is now a vampire.
Connections
The Wife (Laure Stephens) - Despite what it may look like on the outside, Kiri still deeply loves her wife, despite her various betrayals. After all, the line between love and hatred is razor-thin. She is certain that she and Laure will find their way back together again one day, but in the meantime, she is going to enjoy her own life.
The Sire (Lana Lomidze) - Lana kept Kiri locked in a room for over three years, which ended with a broken heart and a broken neck. She knows that challenging Lana is a meaningless exercise, but a woman can dream.
The Protege (Blair Davenport) - The adopted daughter of Kiri’s brother. She had lost touch with her family when she left New Zealand for college and only learned that her brother followed her to the country when she had been contacted by the police about his murder. While there isn’t a single maternal bone in Kiri’s body, she doesn’t hesitate to take the younger witch in, doing her best to teach her all that she knows as that final remnant of her family.
The Assistants (Briar Mors, Allie Fleur, Daniella Domotor) - Kiri has a private greenhouse in Westriver Gardens and the apothecary where she turns such plants into medicines and potions. Alongside Blair, Kiri is willing to take on any help to keep her store running (particularly in daylight hours) while also sharing the knowledge she has. She can be a harsh teacher with high standards, but that’s because a mistake in their work could easily kill someone.
TBA
