Name: Kaitlyn Olivia Winslow
Age: 22
Appearance: Long red hair, fair skin, intense dark blue eyes
Affiliated Group: The Dawning Storm
Rank: Adviser (Information Specialist)
Personality: Quiet, observant, and very focused. She's exceedingly loyal to those who became her family when her own abused her and cast her out.
Affliction: Telepathy and Empathy - she can hear others' thoughts and emotions. When her Affliction goes out of control, all of those voices in her mind will drown out her own, burning out her mind and leaving nothing but a shell. She has to continually shield and filter her mind to discern individuals and minimize the constant noise.
History: Kaitlyn was raised in a small town in New York state. It was fortunate that it was a small town, as she was born with her Affliction, and being exposed to more people when she had not yet learned to shield her mind would likely have burned her out as a child. It started weakly at first - knowing what her parents had gotten her for her birthday (for which she was punished, as they assumed she'd found the presents in their bedroom), or always knowing where hidden sweets were kept, or what the teacher would be testing her class on.
Her parents found her increasingly unnerving, and when she was eight, her father couldn't handle it anymore, declaring he wouldn't call a witch his daughter. Becoming more desperate, as well as in financial straits once Kaitlyn's father left, her mother stayed away from home, working, as much as possible out of fear of her. When she wasn't working, she forced Kaitlyn to go to church to be prayed over, blessed, soaked with holy water, or having to stand all day, hungry, as various members of the congregation as well as the priest read bible verses aloud to her.
When even harsher punishments at home didn't "fix" her, her mother threw her out of the house when she was only sixteen. No one in the community would take her in, "devil spawn" that she was. She ended up hitchhiking (carrying only her backpack containing a few clothes, her favorite book, and the few personal items she'd managed to grab while her mother screamed at her, and the little bit of cash she'd been saving) to the closest decently-sized city, where no one would know her or what she could do.
It was by complete chance that she was discovered by one of The Dawning Storm's Shadows after she'd been living on the streets for a couple of months. She was quickly recruited, the promise of a safe place to stay, enough food, and others who were like her that were no more "devil spawn" or "witch" than she, seeming a dream come true.
She worked as a Knight for quite a while, her abilities useful in keeping track of people during uncertain situations. Eventually she was trusted enough to become an Adviser, her talents making her uniquely suited to gleaning the truth from those who reported, as well as those who went against the rules.
Being able to see into the hearts and minds of others has made her one of the more moderate members of their organization, able to see what motivated those involved in each situation, and advise in a relatively balanced way.
She suffers from severe migraines when she's used her abilities too much, and knows they're a sign that she's too close to her Affliction burning her out.
Kaitlyn Olivia Winslow