Alundra Gardner

Alundra Gardner is the secondary protagonist in the novel Dark Blaze during Nicholas' 1918-1920 storyline. She is targetted by Hadrian Voivode as she is the physical double of his deceased wife, Miranda.

Alundra persuades Nicholas Aero to bring her along with him as she is Hadrian's main target, and the two go on the hunt for the Germanic strigoi whilst taking out any other unnatural threat they come across.

Pre-Book History:
Alundra's real parents both perished in a fire when she was 2-years-old. She was adopted by the Gardner Family and bore their name. Alundra had a quiet childhood and grew up with her next-door neighbour, Maissy Dickens.

Her adoptive father, William, was a military man,whilst her adoptive mother was a nurse. When she was 12-years-old, Edwin, a man six years her elder asked for her hand in marriage, which William agreed to.

William, Edwin and Maissy's older brother, Joseph, all joined the B.E.F. (British Expeditionary Force) together and all died together during the Somme Offensive in 1915.

By this time, the Gardner and Dickens Families had moved to London. Alundra's adoptive mother had found a new man in 1917. During this time Alundra learned much about the medicinal arts and how to drive a car. However, eventually she left with the Dickens Family back to Bicester, as her adoptive mother's personality had changed and her new adoptive father lusted for her in secret.

When Alundra returned to Bicester, she and Maissy became waitresses at the Luna Cafe, where they were then both scouted and courted by Reginald Parker, on Hadrian's orders.

Physical Appearance:

 * Eye Colour - Blue
 * Hair Colour - Blonde
 * Hair Style - Long.
 * Facial Hair - N.A.
 * Skin Colour - White.
 * Height - 5 '7" (170.18cm)
 * Weight - 8.2st (115lbs)
 * Accent - Oxfordshire accent.
 * Age (End Of Novel) - 18-years-old.
 * Other Features - N.A.

Attire & Arsenal:
Initially, Alundra wore relatively feminine clothing when she lived in Bicester and London, however, once she began her travels with Nicholas she wore clothes which women would not wear often, mainly her trousers, knee-high boots and leather jackets. To keep her hair from being snagged by her surroundings or used as a way for her enemies to keep her close, she often wore a cloche hat.

Below is a list of weapons Ally had in her arsenal:
 * Silver Dagger - borrowed from Nicholas.
 * Holy Water - borrowed from Nicholas.
 * Elephant Gun - borrowed from Nicholas.
 * Webley Revolver - borrowed from Nicholas.
 * Palo Santo Stakes (Holy Wood) - borrowed from Nicholas.
 * Pure Salt & Rock Salt - borrowed from Nicholas.
 * Flammable Agents.
 * Dagger Of Rostam - given to her by Lavinia Morata, inherited by Nicholas upon her death.

Personality:
Alundra Gardner is very open-minded and quick to learn. Darryl M. Finch-Ellis desired her to be a relatively quick learner, akin to somebody who cannot swim being thrown into the ocean and having to learn how to stay afloat. She has a positive outlook on life and does not allow anything to hamper this. Due to her experiences, being engaged at such a young age and being forced to run away from her adoptive mother in 1917, Alundra has matured quicker than most.

Her skill of patience and dismissing insults allowed her to mesh well and work alongside Nicholas Aero during their tenure together.

Biography (1919-1920):
This section contains potential spoilers, be warned.

Alundra's story begins with her being scouted and courted by Reginald Parker, alongside her best friend Maissy Dickens. The two are smitten by Reg's strigoic allured powers and Alundra is excited to meet Parker's friend, Hadrian. The night turns sour as Hadrian explains to Reginald that there is not much time. The strigoii attempt to hasten their efforts to turn Alundra into a creature of the night, even killing Maissy to set an example, however, Nicholas Aero boots the door to the room down and shoots Reginald dead with his sawed-off shotgun.

Hadrian jumps out of the room's window and manages to flee, taking a boat, rowed by the ghoul Theodore. Alundra then convinces Nicholas to allow her to join him in his hunt for Hadrian, sighting that Hadrian would not stop until he had turned her as she was the double of his deceased wife, Miranda, and that he had already tasted her blood, marking her and her scent.

Along her travels she aids Nicholas in unearthing supernatural threats within the communities they visit, and dispatches of them.

Powers & Abilities:

 * Student of medicine.
 * Can cure lycanthropy.

Weaknesses:

 * Being human, she is at a disadvantage when facing anything supernatural.

Major Relationships:
This section contains potential spoilers, be warned.

Defeated:
This section contains potential spoilers, be warned.

Trivia:

 * Alundra's original last name was Grainger, but Finch-Ellis believed this would make the readers think of Harry Potter's Hermione Grainger, and so changed her last name to Gardner.
 * Before Grainger, Alundra's surname was originally going to be Nightingale, however, Finch-Ellis believed it was too on the nose in relation to the parallels between her and Miranda.
 * Alundra's first name is a tribute to Alundra Blayze A.K.A. Debrah Ann Miceli, a former female professional wrestler of the 1980s and 1990s.
 * Darryl M. Finch-Ellis has stated that Alundra Gardner looks somewhat physically like Tammy "Sunny" Sytch from 1997.
 * Alundra is partly inspired by Nancy Drew from the Secret Of The Old Clock novel, written by Edward Stratemeyer.
 * The only times Alundra swears is when she is quoting other people.
 * Alundra's favourite novel was Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World, before Nicholas gave her Bram Stoker's Dracula.
 * Alundra's Zodiac Star Sign is a Gemini.
 * Alundra only smokes when she is drunk, which is why she is only said to be smoking during the night she meets Hadrian Voivode.
 * Finch-Ellis believes Natalie Dormer would be the best cast for Alundra in a live action adaption.
 * Alundra's story arch loosely parallels that of Queen Boudicca. Both her and Boudicca lose somebody close to them, Boudicca (her daughter) and Alundra (Maissy Dickens), both were lusted by their aggressors, Boudicca (the Romans) and Alundra (Hadrian Voivode), and Hadrian himself is named after the Roman defensive marvel that is Hadrian's Wall. The two both then went on the warpath against their aggressors and failed.