Olivia Reindana

Olivia Reindana is a character in The Wretched Rite.

Biography:
Until January 14, 2010, the records of Dr. Francisco Orellana's 2008 expedition into the deep Amazon were stored in the records department of the UC San Diego Division of Biological Sciences.

On the security footage for that day, a student approached the desk. He conversed briefly with the attendant, signed in under the name Ken Parusi, and was led into the archives. He emerged approximately 20 minutes later bearing a set of folders. Nearly two hours after that, another student entered. Unable to locate the attendant, he entered the archive. Soon after, he called the police. The body was found covered in a multitude of paper-cuts, and the coroner recorded the cause of death as blood loss. The first student, one Ramon Tiete, had been reported missing several days prior. His body was found the next day under a bridge, torn open, all major bones removed.

The records themselves had only been viewed a handful of times before and were largely ignored- the information contained within was attributed to heat stroke, and the deaths, to the wilderness.

The story they told formed a somewhat spotty account of the expedition. The four participants, Dr. Francisco Orellana, Dr. Trisha Jerdust, Dr. Peter Casine, and Dr. Olivia Reindana, set out as planned. On Day 15, however, they were forced to make camp.

"We will be stopping for a day or two to allow Dr. Reindana a chance to recover. She took a tumble down a bank and received several wounds to her shoulders and back. Her injuries appear to be mostly superficial, and she insists that we continue the expedition. We will judge her health in the morning and make a decision then." -Dr. Orellana's log, Day 15

They got moving the next day, and for several days, the expedition continued as normal. On Day 18, however, Dr. Reindana began to complain of irritation and stabbing pains in her back, and they made camp once more.

'"In her tumble, Olivia apparently got a seed of some sort lodged deep in one of the cuts! There's a tiny shoot sticking out of her back! Francisco thinks she should take it out immediately (and I tend to agree), but it's aroused her scientific curiosity. She wants to keep it there and let it grow! She's just going to just take some pain medication and record its progress! (Honestly, can any real scientist say they would do differently?)" -Dr. Jerdust's log, Day 18

"It's been five days since my fall, and the plant has grown substantially. It resembles plants of the genus Hedera, and the others, as a joke, have started calling me Ivy. The pain has not subsided, but we are running low on painkillers. Francisco wants to turn around, but I don't want to ruin his expedition- he's been planning it for years, and he probably won't get another chance at it." -Dr. Reindana's log, Day 20

Over the next week, the plant continued to grow, spreading to cover much of her back and moving up onto her shoulders. By Day 30, it had begun to creep up her neck, and others in the group began to express serious concerns about her safety.

"I should never have let her continue with this experiment. That plant should have been removed the instant we discovered it. I only hope Dr. Reindana's life isn't in danger." -Dr. Orellana's log, Day 30

"The vines are starting to mix into her hair now. Francisco, Peter, and I all want to turn back, but she's just so stubborn. She cares for Francisco so much, but I don't think she understands how much it hurts him to see her like this." -Dr. Jerdust's log, Day 32

"As the plant has grown onto my head, I've started to get headaches. It's not surprising, really, but there's no way I can tell the others- it would only make them want to turn around even more, and I will not be responsible for this expedition's failure." -Dr. Reindana's log, Day 33

As they neared the 40th day of travel, the records began to become more and more inconsistent.

"I activated the emergency beacon. The plane should arrive in the next few days to pick us up. I shouldn't have let this go on as long as it has- I have serious concerns about Dr. Reindana's health. Five times in the last two days, she's asked us to repeat what we had just said. None of us were talking." -Dr. Orellana's log, Day 38

"They keep talking about me behind my back. They think I don't hear them, but I do. I think they're going to try and force me to turn around. I won't, I won't. I am not going to let Francisco throw his work away because of a little plant." -Dr. Reindana's log, Day 38

"Olivia heard the plane coming before any of us. We didn't even know what she was talking about until it flew by; she just started shouting at Francisco, calling him 'ungrateful' and cursing. She's not herself- if Peter and I hadn't restrained her, I swear she would've tried to kill him. God, I hope she's going to be alright." -Dr. Jerdust's log, Day 40

"The pilot is going to meet us at a river a few miles east of here. The terrain is rough, but our options are limited. I'm considering restraining Dr. Reindana- I suspect the plant is adversely affecting her mental health." -Dr. Orellana's log, Day 40

There are no further entries from Dr. Orellana. The other logs become significantly less coherent after this point.

"Francisco's gone. He wanted to hurt me, I couldn't stop him, I had to stop him I couldn't I did No No No

Please, Francisco, leave me alone" -Dr. Reindana's log, Day 41

"Olivia and Francisco were missing when I woke up this morning. She stumbled back to camp a little later, shaking all over. No sign of Francisco. Peter is considering tying Olivia up and just carrying her the rest of the way." -Dr. Jerdust's log, Day 41

"Francisco is here. They say he isn't, but he is. I tried to explain, but he wouldn't listen, they never listen, they won't believe me.

I think I'm losing" -Dr. Reindana's log, Day 41

Two days later, the rescue plane made an emergency landing several miles from its home airport. One of the side windows had been shattered, and Dr. Reindana was alone inside. She was transported from the airport to the local hospital, and experts were flown in from elsewhere. The doctors' initial reports indicated that the plant's roots were too deep for easy removal. They intended to try at least trimming it back, but no records exist of the results of that attempt- the doctors were found dead in the room, and Dr. Reindana was nowhere to be found.

In mid-2009, another expedition was sent to investigate what had happened. They discovered two bodies near the plane's landing coordinates, each accompanied by supplies and logs identifying them as Dr. Orellana and Dr. Jerdust. Dr. Casine's body and that of the plane's pilot were never located.

Several months after the failed expedition, an unknown source began mailing clippings from various South American newspapers to the department, each accompanied by a clumsily-scrawled note instructing the recipient to include it in the file for Dr. Orellana's 2008 expedition. Each clipping described a sighting of one sort or another- most referring to a cloaked figure entering town at night, stealing a few supplies, then vanishing. One report described a young shop clerk's experiences.

"She came in in this big hooded cloak, right, and at first I was like, okay, whatever. But then she started to just leave with some stuff, and so I asked if she was going to pay. She didn't respond or nothing, just went to leave, so I grabbed for her shoulder. I got a handful of cloak, and it came off. Get this- the whole back of her body was covered in some sort of plant, and she was wearing the kind of thing you see those explorers wearing, only it was all torn and stuff. As soon as it came off, she just bolted.

"But man, you should've seen her eyes. She glared over her shoulder at me on the way out, and, like, they weren't even people's eyes. She looked... like, it looked like she was just an animal or something. But an animal that covers herself in a cloak? I don't know, man. Pretty weird, if you ask me." -Clipping dated November 22nd, 2009

Items/Abilities:
Olivia's idea of what she has with her may or may not line up with reality at any given moment. Sometimes she'll think she's got a smattering of stored food, Dr. Casine's old notebook, a few pens she attaches an odd significance to and stole from her various ventures into what little civilization she could find, and a small knife. Those are the times she's closest to reality- other times, she'll think she's got anything from an armful of seeds to half a million dollars in small, unmarked bills.

As for abilities, well, that's rather on the vague end. The plant on her back grants her certain abilities, but Olivia's not rightly sure of their full extent. She's not keen to find out, either- as she makes use of them, the plant's influence over her seems to grow and her own self seems to shrink away. In some of her more lucid moments, however, she's remarked on how what's happened has mostly seemed to fall into one of two categories- enhanced human capabilities and plant symbiosis. The former is fairly self-explanatory- speed, strength, senses, all heightened by the plant. She's only made use of this in short bursts (and that's been exclusively instinctual, for survival or escaping). The latter is more subtle but also more disconcerting- things like finding sunlight rejuvenating or just wanting to soak in some mud for a while. Those desires are often hard to distinguish from her own, but despite being unsettling, the facts show that they do help both her and the plant in the long run.

Description:
Physically, Olivia looks about how you'd expect a plant-infested explorer to look after living in the Amazon for two years. She's about 5'8" if she stands up straight, rather thin and undernourished, and not exactly keeping up with her old grooming routine. Her hair would probably be blonde if she washed it, but it's now, understandably, best described as "dirty blonde." She was wearing a standard explorer's outfit at the start of the expedition- a light-brown canvas shirt, matching pants, and more pockets than you could shake a stick at. Over the years, it's gained its fair share of tears and tattered edges, and the ivy growing out of the back of it hasn't exactly helped much. By the time of her abduction to the battle, she'd evidently obtained another cloak for herself- a dark-brown number made of rough, heavy canvas that most people would find too itchy to even lean against, let alone clothe themselves in. She's worked it into a hooded cloak shape with some crude cutting and stitches. She's far from an expert seamstress, but it's decently sturdy and covers her up well enough.

Mentally, Olivia's not exactly what one would call "stable." She has her more- and less-lucid periods, sometimes dipping into and out of humanity jarringly fast, and if she were some thirty years older, she'd probably be able to qualify for the title of "crazy swamp hag." She's been known to sometimes think that Dr. Orellana was there with her or that she's still trying to finish the expedition.

Diplomacy is likely to be hit-and-miss with her, as she's both under the influence of a semi-sentient and probably-malevolent plant and not always guaranteed to see you as the same person she was talking to a minute ago.