ECATERINA FILIMON

ORIGINAL CHARACTER BASED ON RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2

don't place your bets on a word that they say. they'll put your life to rest;

'cause there ain't no glory in the west

CHARACTER TAG

PLAYLIST

DOSSIER

NAME: Ecaterina Filimon

ALIAS: Caty, Kitty, Ruth 'Striker' Reed, Diana Yorik

AGE: Mid-30s to late 60s (67 years old as of 1899)

RACE: Human

GENDER & PRONOUNS: Female, she/her

ORIENTATION: Bisexual

ZODIAC: Aquarius (January 30th)

NATIONALITY: Romanian-American

OCCUPATION: Outlaw, bounty hunter, previously ranch worker

FACECLAIM: Melissa McBride & Elizabeth Mitchell (younger)

HEIGHT: 166 cm / 5'4
BUILD: Slender, toned, wiry, softer later in life

SKIN: White but tanned, multiple scars and wrinkles

HAIR: Used to be light brown, almost blonde, now grey, slightly wavy

EYES: Light, metallic blue

WARDROBE: Practical clothing, layers, usually stolen men’s clothes, earthy tones, solid colors

HOMETOWN: N/A; drifter, never strays too long in one place

BIRTHPLACE: Small village in central Romania

MOTHER: Luminiţa Aman (deceased)

FATHER: Zaharia Aman(deceased)

SIBLINGS: Two younger brothers (both deceased in infancy)
CHILDREN: Twins Perry & Percy Griffin (both deceased), Mioara Cantemir (deceased), Christine Vance (alive, but estranged)

GRANDCHILDREN: Bogdan Cantemir (alive)

SIGNIFICANT OTHER: Dimitrie Filimon (deceased); verse-dependent in the present

ABILITIES: Proficient with most firearms and their maintenance, quick draw, hand-to-hand combat, hunting, tracking, fishing, various other survival skills, horse care, wrangling, cooking, knitting and sewing, basic knowledge of medicine

LANGUAGES: Romanian, English
RELIGION: Orthodox

ALIGNMENT: True Neutral

MBTI: tba

ENNEAGRAM TYPE: Type 6, The Skeptic: preoccupied with security, seeks safety, and likes to be prepared for problems

STRENGTHS: Assertive, easy-going, practical, adaptable, experienced, resilient, independent, self-reliant

WEAKNESSES: Cowardly in the face of adversity, inflexible, reluctant to change, self-destructive, flighty, egotistical, indifferent

LIKES: Traveling, horse-riding, gunfights, summer, second chances, her grandson, money, freedom, hard liquors

DISLIKES: Her past, cold, her son-in-law, her impulses, boot-lickers, pretentiousness, arrogance

BIOGRAPHY

ORIGINS

Ecaterina was born to Luminiţa and Zaharia Aman on the 30th of January, 1832 in Țara Românească (Wallachia). She was born with a caul covering her head, which in Romanian folklore is a bad omen, signifying that the child would grow up into a cruel and violent person, would live a life full of sin and misdeeds, and then turn into a strigoi upon death.

Her parents were not very superstitious back then, but Ecaterina’s grandmother was, and when she saw the newborn, it was a frightening sight for her to witness. She would go on to try to convince the parents to sell their child because she was *‘marked by the devil’* and sooner or later he would come to reclaim her. None of this mattered for Luminița and Zaharia, and they promised each other they would raise Ecaterina well and she would turn into an honorable person.

Throughout Ecaterina's childhood, nothing significant happened. Still, her grandmother would call her drac împielițat (hellion/imp; literally accursed devil) as she still believed Ecaterina to be some sort of demon just waiting to damn them all. As a rowdy and mischievous child, Ecaterina would often use this against her grandmother to play pranks on her or simply scare her into leaving her and her parents alone. Her parents chided her for being unkind to her grandmother, but mostly found it amusing and didn’t actually do anything to punish Ecaterina.

Her grandmother would then pass away, and Ecaterina and her parents emigrated out of what is known nowadays as Romania but was under the Ottoman Empire occupation back then. They spent about half a year in France, homeless and always on the move, waiting for an opportunity to travel overseas to America. Such an opportunity arose when a ship belonging to Luther Covington, a steel magnate, arrived, looking for workers to transport abroad to the bustling Saint-Denis. Ecaterina’s parents, like many others, saw this as an opportunity to start over in the rapidly growing world of America and the security of a wage, as part of the deal was signing a contract for twenty years. Of course, not speaking English, many of the details of what this entailed were lost to them. Still, they accepted. And so Ecaterina, now thirteen, and her parents ended up working on a small ranch outside of Saint Denise for Covington.

FALLING IN WITH THE RED REEDS

Fast forward to when Ecaterina turned sixteen. At this point, she was already sick and tired of milking cows and feeding horses and fixing fences all day. Growing increasingly restless, she sought adventure, thrills, and a more interesting life than working on the ranch all day long for seventeen more years. One day, she simply ran away from home. Leaving no message for her parents, no hint of where she went.

Enticed by the prospect of leading a free life, full of adventure, Ecaterina chose the outlaw lifestyle. At that time, she didn't know what that meant exactly, but would soon realize once she fell in with Roland 'Razor' Reed's gang of outlaws, known for their bloody and sadistic streak and based in Bluewater Marsh.

Her parents loved Ecaterina dearly and this was a hard blow to recover from. Her father wanted to assure his wife that they’d find her, bring her back home safe, that surely she must have been kidnapped for ransom. Yet her mother knew Ecaterina better. Knew she was restless and unsatisfied and always sought something different than the life they could offer her. Knew that she likely left of her own accord. Still, she didn’t say anything to her husband, allowing him to find the strength to move forward by believing their daughter would never run away without saying a word to them like that.

Time passed– months, almost a year– and then rumors and gossip began surfacing. That the young girl who disappeared mysteriously one night some time ago was now running with Roland Reed’s gang, the Red Reeds. That not only was she associated with them but actively taking part in robberies and shootouts. Her parents wouldn’t believe this was their Ecaterina until an ambush by lawmen captured a member of the Red Reeds, questioned him, and obtained information about the gang, including the names and descriptions of other members.

And then they lost their daughter a second time. This time, the confirmation hurt more than not knowing. Together, they set out to find her, going straight to the gang’s last known location. And indeed there she was– they begged her to come back, to return to them, promised that they would do better, they would all take a vacation somewhere far from Saint-Denis, they would buy her a gown like the ladies in the city wore, or perhaps she wanted a new steed. Nothing moved Ecaterina or convinced her, neither the promises nor the desperate tears and pleas of her parents. She refused to return and told them to turn back and go home. This was all Roland needed to hear, and he immediately shot both of them, killing them instantly in front of Ecaterina’s eyes. Her mother’s last words as Roland took out his gun and aimed were calling Ecaterina a strigoaică– exactly what her grandmother had feared she would become all those years ago.

YOUTH

Ecaterina would run with the Red Reeds for six years, following them out in the far West. In time, she learned how to believe in the outlaw life in earnest, in ideals of freedom from the restraints of society and living according to one's own moral code. Like all fellow members, she received a mark on her left cheek— an R, cut and burnt into her skin so the scar would never heal-- as well as a new name, *Ruth Reed*. She would later earn the nickname Striker as well, due to how sharp and quick she was with a gun, striking as fast and deadly as lightning.

She never spoke of what had transpired between her and the rest of the gang, but she returned to Saint-Denis, alone, in 1855, intending to go straight.

At the same time, a young doctor by the name of Dimitrie Filimon was trying to open a practice in the city, only to be repeatedly denied by the authorities due to his immigrant status. Eventually, Dimitrie was pushed to start running an illegal clinic right under the law's nose, offering his services for much lower prices than established doctors, and most importantly, never turning anyone who needed help. One night, it was Ecaterina who stumbled into his clinic. Under such circumstances, Dimitrie could hardly judge Ecaterina's past and soon they would become close, fall in love, and marry.

For a while, everything was going well-- Ecaterina managed to settle down like she had wished, having a loving husband, a warm home, and even a daughter, Mioara. Fate had it that Ecaterina would not enjoy this life for long, though. Her past caught up with her: members of the Red Reeds found her, thrashed her husband's clinic, and kidnapped him to draw her out. She managed to kill them and bring Dimitrie home safely, but this was when she realized her family would never be safe with her around.

Thus, she decided to leave, despite her husband's insistence that they could leave the city and start anew somewhere else. Ecaterina now knew better that such a fanciful dream was simply not possible for someone like her. The next year, she would find Ronald Reed himself and kill him as a warning to all other remaining members that they would follow the same fate if they ever sought her out again.

From then on, she began traveling alone, ever the drifter. She took up bounties where she found them, worked as a hired gun, and gave Saint Denis a wide berth, despite missing her husband and daughter terribly.

LATER YEARS

Many years passed before Ecaterina dared to contact her daughter. Dimitrie had passed away in the meantime; Miora grew up, married a man named Barbu Cantemir, and gave birth to a son, Bogdan. Ecaterina tracked them down to the town of Strawberry in West Elizabeth, and although she didn't expect to find a grandson, she was beyond happy to meet the toddler. Mioara asked her to stay with them, to reconnect, get to know each other, and make up for all this time spent apart, but the best Ecaterina could do was to give her a contact name to write to her. The memory of what had happened the last time she'd tried to live a normal life never faded from Ecaterina's memory, and she would not make the same mistake twice.

Mioara did write to her mother, often. Telling her about Bogdan, about her life in Strawberry, about her late father, and then later about how her married life turned sour when Barbu turned into a violent and abusive man. Each time, Ecaterina read the letters and never replied to them, never visited again. Mioara's letters became desperate pleas for her mother to come back, and then they stopped entirely.

Years later, when she received another letter it was from Bogdan, her grandson. The boy told her about Mioara's suicide, and his father's abuse, and— not unlike his mother— begged her to come and rescue him. This time, Ecaterina could not bear the guilt and shame anymore and arrived in Strawberry only days later. She killed Bogdan's father, took no excuses from him, and didn't believe he deserved to live any longer. Then, pursued by the law and locals, escaped with Bogdan into the wild forests of Big Valley.

For the next five years or so, Bogdan was Ecaterina's focus-- her purpose and redemption, too. She taught him how to defend himself, how to fish and hunt and live out in the wilderness, and how to ride and care for a horse. When the young man expressed his wish to venture off into the world on his own, Ecaterina let him go, remembering her own wish to be independent in her youth, but the two remained in touch and met frequently.

Nowadays, Ecaterina's life is slower but no less dangerous. She drops by Bogdan's sheep farm whenever she's nearby, often wounded or with the law on her trail or both.

VERSES

FAR CRY 5

CYBERPUNK 2077

FALLOUT

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