Carmilla Dianne Noir

Carmilla was a member of one of the four main families of the Inean High Council. She was the successor of her mother, the former head of her family, until she decided to pursue a life of being a traveler. Her brother, Morgan Corvina, takes on her duties in her stead.

Carmilla takes on many aliases and appearances throughout her journey in the realm as she aims to keep her true identity a secret. Additionally, those that know of her true given name are not given the privilege of knowing her surname.

Throughout book one to three, her surname is unknown to the reader.

She is one of the POV characters in Madwomen.

Appearance

As a self-proclaimed ‘cute girl’, in Carmilla’s chosen form, she has long and straight brown hair. Her hair is usually tied back with a black ribbon. She has her eyes closed during the daytime, as she is weak to seeing in the sunlight. She sees through the help of Lilith. When she opens her eyes, they are revealed to be colored a deep red. Dark bags hang below her eyes.

In her true form, Carmilla’s height extends up to nearly three meters, and her appearance is noted to be akin to a demon. Her skin turns scaly and silver. Her mouth extends up to her ears, her teeth turn sharp, and her tongue turns long and forked. Her hands change into talons. Her usual ringing and sweet voice turns distorted.

She is usually seen wearing dark clothing. She wears golden earrings from an unknown exact source, saying she stole it as spoils from one of her old lovers (which she has hinted to have killed).

Personality

Slow to anger and easy to please, Carmilla is known to have an easygoing attitude but seldom takes anything seriously. She acts in her best interests and puts self-preservation before anything else. This personality of hers causes others to be wary of her once they are aware of it, knowing that she’ll use anyone as a shield if time ever calls for the need to do so. However, Carmilla is extremely protective of those she loves. This attitude is displayed when it comes to her brother Morgan, and the lengths she goes through to protect his image and name from public opprobrium. She claims that her brother is the last person she has, and will always put him before everyone else. This sentiment is returned by her brother, although to a much stronger— and arguably concerning— extent.

Within her protective shell of a bright demeanor lies a girl that is far from being cheery. She takes no interest in politics despite her birthright giving her a powerful position, thinking that it is the cause of her parents’ death. While she basks in praise, she avoids being the center of attention for too long as she believes that attention brings trouble.

Due to a lack of parental figure for half of her life, she experiences great trouble in establishing her identity. She surrendered the title that she was given since the moment of her birth to her brother, as she felt that he fit the title better. She journeys from country to country to find a place she can call home, a job she’ll come to love, and an identity she can settle on. Carmilla expresses disappointment as her travels seem to bear no fruit and seems to confuse her even more.

She also has the tendency to run from responsibilities, disliking work and being bound to duty. She thanks her ability to learn quickly as she claims that her genius was the only way she was able to survive her years in university.

She’s seen as the most understanding, but she disagrees with it, saying they’re assuming she always has the best interest. Carmilla views herself as someone evil and delights in being labeled by others as such. This coincides with her dislike of having expectations, especially positive ones, placed onto her.

True to her goal label, she kills without remorse and without hesitation. Lilith comments that Carmilla kills her opponents quickly. Carmilla’s way of killing contrasts with her brother’s despite the fact that he taught her how to fight— she expresses dislike towards the idea of torturing people before killing them as she has witnessed the torture of her parents before their death.

She has a debilitating fear of fire, rooting herself in place when faced with it.

History

Background

Born to Perdita Noir, a noblewoman whose ancestor is the first vampire, and Cain Corvina, a famed young master who runs the most powerful family in the Inean High Council, Carmilla lived a life of luxury.

As a child, she was able to get everything she wanted, and was spoiled rotten by her mother and father. In return, she paid it forward by spoiling her little sister Eris, but ignored her older brother Morgan due to her knowledge of them not sharing a mother. She focused all her attention on her little sister and exchanged very few words with her brother. She recalls this as indifference rather than dislike, as Carmilla believes that family are those that share the same flesh and blood, and Morgan doesn’t share those with her.

Outside of her indifference to Morgan, Carmilla is remarked to have been friendly and sociable to everyone and is called a ‘true Noir’ due to her traits.

However, the happiness of her childhood was short-lived as the Corvina mansion was attacked by the Walman hunters in their pursuit of the falsely accused Perdita for multiple counts of crime. The arrest quickly escalated into a violent situation as Perdita retaliated. The Corvinas were separated at the time, and as a clueless ten-year-old child, Carmilla walks right into the hands of the readily violent hunters. She was taken by her older brother before she was harmed.

Morgan tells Carmilla that ‘bad people’ intend to hurt their family, and that their sister isn’t safe. Carmilla then tells Morgan they must get Eris before evacuating. On their way to rescue their youngest sister, the mansion was set ablaze right as they opened the door to their sister’s room. The siblings were subjected to watching their sister burn to death, unable to help as Carmilla freezes in place and Morgan tries to take Eris in his arms only to get himself burnt. Forced to move and take another path, Carmilla and Morgan argue about what they should do— Morgan argues that they should get out, while Carmilla insists that they should at least get their parents to safety. Morgan tells Carmilla that their father is long dead and that he was the first one to be killed. Carmilla is launched into a fit of rage and starts hitting Morgan, blaming him for not doing enough.

As they go back and forth, a beam falls down and burns Carmilla’s lower back. In panic, Morgan drags Carmilla to a silent area to allow her to recover for a while before continuing their way out, but they unfortunately run into the confrontation happening between Perdita and Rowena Walman. The siblings witness their mother’s torture before being killed. Morgan carries Carmilla on his back and runs out of the mansion until it is out of sight.

Abilties

• Immortality — As a vampire, Carmilla’s aging is slowed by absorbing the life of others and will be stopped for years once she drinks blood.
• Transfiguration — Carmilla is able to shapeshift into various animals and can alter her appearance.
• Superhuman strength — According to Blaire, Carmilla possesses physical strength equal to that of ‘probably fifty men’.
• Superhuman senses — As a vampire, Carmilla’s sense of sight, smell, and hearing are enhanced dramatically, as seen in how she was able to see the incoming knight Aisha sent from miles away.
• Hypnosis — On rare occasions, Carmilla is able to hypnotize both humans and non-humans through voice. However, her abilities are very limited, as it only works on people with weak wills or those who are emotionally disturbed.
• Regeneration — So long as Carmilla’s heart is still intact, she can heal and regenerate body parts, even those that are cut off.
• Blood bonding — Due to her lineage, Carmilla is able to do a blood bond with humans. She is able to link herself to them, sharing thoughts and being able to sense the human’s emotions. In exchange, the human will continuously provide essence to the vampire, which will kill them in the end. Carmilla herself has never used this ability, claiming that if she was interested in a human, she would simply turn them.