Nikola is the firstborn child of Montenegran oligarchs. Being somewhat old fashioned in their views, she was viewed as a constant disappointment for not being a male heir to the family buisness. Nikola was outspoken, which sometimes brought the family disappointment, but was tolerated as long as she continued to excell in both athletics, school, and archery.
That all changed 2 years ago, at age 16, when Nikola was taken very ill. It turned out she had a form of muscular distrophy that manifested in her teen years. The change was shocking, the girl became more withdrawn, less brash, and within a few months completely unable to participate in sports. The medication that she was on further ravaged her body. When it she was finally given a prognosis of probably not making it much past 20, her parents decided to ship her off somewhere for her final years; as to avoid the embaressment of having to explain that their daughter had a congenitive disease, a sure sign of weakness. Best to have her death explained away by travel, or an accident abroad.
In Japan, Nikola lives with her caretakers. They provide far more company and support than her parents ever did. Faced with mortality at such a young age, Nikola turned to spiritualism. Her parents allow her a generous stipend, which she uses to buy large ammounts of esoterica from all around the globe.
Hooks: Nikola brought with her 2 items from Montenegro: her great to the umpteenth grandfathers hunting bow, something that gives her a great deal of pleasure to be able to relate to, and a book from her parents library written in a frustrating combination of several dead languages and cyphers that seem to detail apocrypha. She's been able to puzzle out the Latin and Aramaic parts, but several still elude her.
Why Japan? Nikola doesn't know exactly why her parents sent her here. Perhaps they have unsavory connections? She was never entirely sure what the family buisness exactly was, and was always a little too scared to ask.
