Wren McKay, Capitol (Complete)

Name: Wren McKay
Age: 32
Gender: Female
District/Area: Capitol

As a swallow sits in an old rotting tree,
Lovely and sad as a swallow should be,
The sun's all shining as he's basking.

Appearance:
Wren is not good-looking by most standards. Her most unusual feature is the shape of her eyes - they're oddly asymmetrical, with the left more slanted than the right. The eyes are a light, hazel brown. Her nose is long but with a narrow bridge and nostrils, and her lips are smaller and less plump than most womens'. Her most attractive feature is wavy brown hair, left long and flowing around her shoulders, but with the first signs of grey. She's tall for a woman, and average weight and not much muscle. Wren also has scars on her back - reminders of her time in District Two's community home.

Because of her governmental paycheque, Wren can afford basic makeup, which she uses lightly. Usually, she goes with light eyeliner and strong lipstick, applied to hide the early signs of aging expected of a thirty-two year old. Maybe she's been around Capitolites too long. Her dress style is practical, befitting her job and age, but she tends to avoid bright colours. She also has a thing for jewelry - whenever she saves enough of her money, she'll buy a few interesting pieces.

All the long I'm there asking,
What is it that you see?
His wings not bent, but stretched to the extent;
With the wink of an eye, swallow, dear swallow begins to fly.

Personality:
Wren has a somewhat hard and guarded personality on the outside. She's not prone to compromise, even to the point of seeming rude, since she doesn't hold back her thoughts, even if they are offensive. She finds it difficult to trust people, and will only talk about her past and spend much time with her few close friends. Her favourite kind of conversation is a friendly argument or debate - she enjoys showing her opnions and thoughts, because she often has good insights and ideas.

It isn't that she doesn't want to care for people - she just holds back part of herself because of her past difficulties. She never learnt to have a full family-like relationship. She also has difficulty with seeing the points of view or concerns of others, since her time in Career training taught her not to look for those. It's a "survival of the fittest" philosophy. Wren can also come off as arrogant or elitist, because she expects a lot from herself and others. She does have maybe a little too much faith in her abilities.

Her family background in combination with her seeming lack of compassion leads her to not show much concern for others, and allows her to carry out her job when she's called on to create muttations for the Games or the Capitol's other uses. She actually enjoys seeing her creations in action - she isn't sure why, though.

There's an obscene amount of green,
So many colors to be seen,
You see,
But I alone just wallow,
As a swallow in this old rotting tree.

History:
Wren works as an ornithologist for the Capitol. So the first question people ask her tends to be "What's an ornithologist?" An ornithologist, in fact, is a scientist that studies birds. Wren holds a degree in this field and works as an ornithologist in District Two's Nut. In fact, there is a team of ornithologists, other biologists, and geneticists working there. So why would the Capitol need those types of scientists, especially an ornithologist? The answer is usually revealed during the Hunger Games, in the form of whatever bird-muttation the Tributes must face. There's also been jabberjays, of course.

Wren was born in District Two, the child of two Peacekeepers. She lived with them, wanting for little, for her early childhood. At the age of twelve, both her parents died in a train derailment and Wren was shipped off to the District's community home. Two being a Career-tribute District, the community home was pretty much a training ground, and a daily battle with the other kids. Fighting was encouraged; beatings were dispensed to those who lost, or those who did badly in school, or those who showed weakness. This harsh environment toughened Wren up, to put it nicely, and gave her a hard edge to her personality.

When Wren turned eighteen, she left the community home for the Capitol's service, and received a post-secondary education in exchange for a few years as a peacekeeper, a job which she carried out dutifully, sometimes even cruelly. She showed promise in biology and pursued this field, eventually earning an advanced degree in ornithology at District Six's college. Around the age of twenty-eight, she moved to the Capitol and took a job in the science division of the Gamemaker's Office, where she slowly but steadily earned promotions and now holds a mid-ranking position. She never married or had children, because trust is difficult for her after her tough childhood.

Codeword: <img src="http://i41.tinypic.com/16h2ibt.png">
Comments/Other (OOC): The poem included can be found at: www.poetryinnature.com/nature/poetry.asp?poem=3566, and is written by Marcia J. Zeller.