Hysteria

This is the first character of mine who has a name, a story and a reason to be as she is. I did it to enter a charadesign contest, and I must admit that giving her a background was really fun!! Here is a quick translation of her story, but I don't have much time to translate it proprerly, so please bear with my mistakes !

Name: Hysteria
Birth: Paris, Middle Ages.
Age: about 700 years old. Physically, she is 21.
Background: She was born as a human. Coming from a family where most women suffered from some sort of mental illness, she probably is the most unstable one. Indeed, Only her unusually great softness could match her extreme madness. One night, madness got into her and she prayed the Devil to come to her: that's how the Devil's child was conceived. When she got her mind back, completely distraught, she told her husband that the child she was carrying was his. He wholeheartedly welcomed the news, but no sooner had he been told so that he was forced to leave to accomplish his duty as a knight while his wife slowly fell into complete madness. Several months later, he came home, but did not recognize his wife: her eyes were wild, she had a strange smile on her face, and her hands were protectively covering her round stomach... from which was sticking up a blood-drenched horn. Panic-strikened, he ran away and rounded up the whole village. With the priest's help, villagers managed to neutralize the mad woman and drive an enormous stake into her womb, hoping to have killed the Devil's progeny. After a whole night of fighting, she seemed to be finally dead. But when they came back few minutes later to take the corpse away, it was not there anymore.

From that day on, she was called Hysteria, a nickname which refers to both her mental illness and the terrifying screams which resonated that faithful night, while she tried to protect her child.

Actually, the woman did die that night. However, the Devil's child survived by taking possession of his mother's corpse, which explains her physical transformation. The grief she felt for the loss of her child (she was unaware of his survival) is the only remaining trace of his mother's spirit. Besides this, Hysteria definitely is the incarnation of the Devil's child.
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La même en français!!

Nom: Hysteria
Naissance: Paris, Moyen-Age.
Age: environ 700 ans, mais elle est physiquement figée à 21 ans.

Histoire: Issue d'une lignée où toutes les femmes sont atteintes d'une certaine maladie mentale, elle est de loin la plus instable. Effectivement, la grande douceur qui la caractérise le plus souvent n'a d'égale que l'ampleur de sa folie. Durant l'une de ses crises, elle prie une nuit le Diable de venir à elle, et tombe enceint par la suite. Lorsqu'elle retrouve la raison, affolée, elle fait croire à son éoux qu'il s'agit de son enfant. Celui-ci, chevalier, s'en va voyager quelques temps tandis qu'elle sombre irrémédiablement dans la folie la plus totale. Lorsqu'il revient quelques mois plus tard, il découvre sa femme changée: un sourire étrange orne ses lèvres, ses yeux hagards brillent d'une lueur folle, ses mains sont posés possessivement sur son ventre rond....duquel déasse ce qui semble être une corne ensanglantée. Terrorisé, il s'enfuit sans attendre et rameute tous les paysans du village qui, sous la tutelle du prêtre, neutralisent la femme et transpercent son ventre à l'aide d'un énorme pieu dans l'espoir de tuer la progéniture du Diable. Après une nuit entière de lutte, ils la laissent finalement pour morte mais quand on revient débarrasser le corps quelques minutes après, il a disparu.

Son surnom Hysteria qui lui fut donné par la suite ne fait pas seulement référence à sa condition mentale, mais aussi aux hurlements inhumains qu'elle a poussé tout au long de la nuit en essayant de protéger son enfant.

En réalité, la femme est bel et bien morte ce jour-là. Mais l'enfant du Diable a survécu en s'emparant du corps de sa mère, ce qui explique la transformation physique de cette dernière. De l'esprit de la mère ne subsiste que la douleur aveugle d'avoir perdu son enfant (du moins, c'est ce qu'elle croyait), mais hormis ce point, Hysteria est l'incarnation complète du fils du Diable.