Epona Mills / D1 (Fin)

Name: Epona Mills ("Eps")
Age: 18
Gender: Female
District/Area: District One
Appearance:

Eps is heavy set, and always stands firmly on both feet. She has never been particularly light or willowy, and her early training only increased her bulk. She never grew tall either, but she doesn't mind; she likes being close to the ground, and carrying her weight low. She is very hard to throw off balance. It has always been one of her special skills.

Epona is dark-haired and dark-eyed; she usually wears her hair just long enough to be pulled back and out of her eyes, for practical reasons. She doesn't smile often, but smirks easily. Her knuckles are hardened from training and her hand is calloused for work; it is not uncommon to see her hands and arms bruised, scraped, or burned. She tans easily, but has been paler since she stopped regularly training in the open. 

Personality:

Eps is as blunt as her weapons are. She has never been one to mince words, and as the oldest of three, she learned responsibility early on. Her parents put her in career training as young as they could, and Eps learned discipline, courage, and determination on the fly. But even that did not do much in tempering her way of saying whatever comes to her mind, regardless of politeness or eloquence. 

Eps enjoys fighting. She takes pride in being good at it, and she likes to relieve pent up stress and pressure by punching things, and punching them hard. She thinks of herself as a strong woman, strong in all senses of the word, and she is willing to prove that to anyone who questions it. She is hard to scare, and, just like in her physical nature, hard to throw off balance.

There are exceptions, of course. She has a huge soft spot for her daughter, for example. She lets her guard down around her, especially when they are alone; in those moments, Eps is kind, gentle, and even playful. She similarly lets up around her younger sisters, although never enough to put her at odds with their parents. She likes people who can keep up with her, both in sparring and in banter, but she doesn't trust strangers easily. She has a bit of a chip on her shoulder about other careers, and the way they look at her.

History:

Epona is the oldest of three sisters, and the first one to have entered training as a career tribute. Both their parents were careers in their time, and while neither got the chance to become a victor, they were still known for their skills enough to pass their knowledge on. Epona always admired her parents when she was little, and followed their reactions to the Games with more rapt attention than the Games themselves. She was delighted when her mother started training her, and decided Eps showed enough promise to become a career.

Epona trained a a career tribute until she was almost 16 years old. She showed exceptional skill in close-quarter combat such as wrestling and boxing; she was known for her powerful kicks in unchecked fights. When it came to weapons, she liked staffs and other blunt weapons. Some of her classmates liked to call her "Miss Blunt Force Trauma," with emphasis on the blunt. She never backed down from a challenge, and her enjoyment and progress made her somewhat of an idol in her sisters' eyes.

And then she made a mistake.

Epona, having a teenage crush one of the other careers in training, snuck out of home for a secret party with the older trainees. She had a great time, and an exciting night, in which all of her dreams seemed to come true.
A couple of weeks later it became clear that she was pregnant. 
She hid the pregnancy as long as she could; she hid it from the guy, her parents, the trainers, everyone. When she couldn't hide it anymore, the truth came out, and with it a storm that tore the family apart. Epona's parents never forgave her for stubbornly sticking to her truth, and keeping the child, effectively throwing all the years of training and promise away. They kicked her out and cut her off, officially forbidding her sisters from talking to her again. 

Epona got by on connections, friendships, and general pity, until she gave birth to her daughter Macha. But goodwill ran out; it was low to begin with, towards a girl disowned by a respected family, and all the other careers started avoiding her on principle. She soon realized she needed to work to get by. She started working as an apprentice to a metalworker who specializes in making high quality decorative replicas of famous weapons used in the Games by victors. She still works there today, doing basic jobs and leaving the finer parts to her mentor. She has her own room above the shop, where she lives with her two year old daughter. She has not talked to her parents for these two years, but her sisters visit in secret sometimes. 

A year after her daughter's birth, Epona got back into training on her own, simply because she missed it. She does not consider herself a career anymore (neither does anyone else), but she still enjoys the fight. She hopes that one day she will get to use her skills again. She also hopes to train her daughter one day.

Other: Eps' two younger sisters are up for grabs, if anyone wants to play them! So is Macha's father.