[img]https://i.pinimg.com/736x/b5/e2/44/b5e2446a5f286c4a71dd76cf204e5b22--aliens-movie-noomi-rapace.jpg[/img] [h3]Basic Information[/h3] [b]Name:[/b] Martina Nikolova [b]Nicknames:[/b] Marti, Nik [b]Gender:[/b] Female [b]Age:[/b] 37 [b]Ethnicity:[/b] Caucasian [b]Nationality:[/b] Bulgarian [b]Occupation:[/b] Underwater archeologist/archeozoologist [h3]Appearance[/h3] [b]Physique:[/b] At 5'5'' Martina is not a tall woman. And with her medium build and fit, athletic physique she is not a delicate one as well. She is by no means bulky and is not short enough to be considered stocky, but she looks strong and spry for a woman in her late thirties. An expert diver and a lifetime martial artist she is constantly training and exerting herself, which keeps her well enough in shape and somewhat removed from the ideal Renaissance body type. [b]Height:[/b] 5'5'' [b]Weight:[/b] 125 lbs [b]Hair:[/b] Dark brown, peppered with some white [b]Eyes:[/b] Hazel [b]Skin:[/b] Fair, burns easily in the sun, with some freckles here and there [b]Scars / Markings / Etc:[/b] A small scar across her lower lip, left side. Has several tattoos and piercings. Some readily visible, others hidden by clothes. [b]Clothing Description:[/b] Martina dresses for comfort and functionality. Jeans, nothing skinny or too tight fitting, shirts and tees, boots or sneakers. She has some quirky tastes when it comes to socks and underwear. [h3]Inventory[/h3] [list] [*]Underwater Kinetics Blue Tang Titanium Dive Knife [*]Professional underwater camera and accessories [*]A picture of her parents [/list] [h3]Identity[/h3] [b]Personality:[/b] Nik is a warm and friendly person, but she is more often than not lost in thought chasing some ancient mystery with her mind. Whenever it comes to work she is laser focused and dedicated. She is a bit solitary in general and keeps to herself. She is used to being on her own having grown up a single child. But she is by no means withdrawn and antisocial. She might not actively seek the company of her fellow colleagues, but she will gladly join in any comunal activities she is invited to take part in. Her years as a diver have taught her to literally be calm under pressure. If not by virtue of her diving experience, the years practicing Aikido have ingrained in her the philosophy of this Japanese martial art. She approaches problems and obstacles with calm presence and at times unnerving patience. She rarely rushes headlong into anything. She will analyze and ascertain, and try to find a solution that offers the most beneficial outcome of a situation. In her close personal relationships Martina is jovial and almost cheeky with a ready, if a bit sardonic, sense of humor. She practices self-irony often and believes it is a sign humility. People that do not know her well might find her sense of humor a bit stiff and offensive, but once they realize she treats herself to the same those of that particular medicine, they feel at least a bit vindicated and relaxed. All that said, Martina is a bit on the shy side when it comes to forming close personal relationships – friendly and romantic alike. She is a little bit looser when she knows that only friendship is at stake. But if she finds out that romantic feelings are involved she can be a bit awkward and bashful, and adorkably tongue-tied. [b]Strengths:[/b] Grace under pressure Single-minded focus Humility [b]Weaknesses:[/b] Can be absentminded and distracted when working on something important to her Is conscious of it and tries hard not to, but can be preachy at times on the subject of humility and Zen philosophy [b]Likes:[/b] Anything related to Japan and the Japanese culture, especially their cuisine and the arts of origami and rock balancing Diving and underwater exploring Dimples Reading, listening to music and dancing Vampire themed books and movies /none of that sparkling vamp garbage though/ Video games and tabletop games [b]Dislikes:[/b] Dill Inconsiderate people Duplicity Smoking Excessive drinking [b]Fears:[/b] Losing her parents while she’s away at an expedition Mother Nature – she is one scary Lady whenever she decides to throw her weight around Losing people under her watch. She is always extra cautious whenever she is leading her teams of underwater explorers. [h3]Biography[/h3] Born in the early twenties of the twenty-first century by doctor parents Nik grows up wanting for little and receiving the best of education a kid can get. As an only child her parents tended to spoil her a bit, but ultimately managed to instill in their daughter important values like honesty, hard work, discipline and self-improvement. Her parents started grooming her early on to follow in their footsteps, when little Martina showed signs of a bright mind and genuine thirst for knowledge. Still, just as much kids can resemble their parents, they can also be very different from them. And such was the case with Nik. As the years went by Marti’s parents learned that unfortunately their daughter absolutely did not possess the predisposition for exact sciences. Which unfortunately shoved the option of her becoming a doctor like her parents straight out of the door. Instead little Nik’s interest in ancient history and mysteries grew more and more up to the point that she was dragging her parents all over the country visiting ancient sites – Thracian tombs, temples, or ruins of long forgotten cities. As a single child that was on the bookish side her parents didn’t want their daughter to be left alone with little to no friends, so they enrolled her in several group activities to provide Nik with the choice what she would stick with. From the half a dozen activities among which rhythmic gymnastics, ballet and contemporary dancing, football and aikido, the only thing the young girl really took to, was her aikido practices. She excelled in all things that required and physical prowess with an athlete’s natural grace. But she found the ceremony and rituals that accompanied her aikido courses to be extremely interesting and so that’s what she chose and focused on during the years to follow. Steadily with the passage of time Martina’s interest with the ancient world and civilizations grew from a childish fascination to a serious adult interest so much so that young Nik decided to study archeology. However since that particular branch of the sciences wasn’t very well represented, her parents decided it would be best for their daughter to benefit from the best possible education. Both her mother and father, being wells established physicians, had no qualms relocating the family and it was decided that they would move to England where Martina would try to apply as a student in archaeology in all the best schools and programs. The family’s transition from their home country to England was relatively smooth. English was by this point in time a must know language for any non-native speakers and the entire family knew it well enough for it not to be a hindrance. Young Martina was enrolled in an archaeology program of her choice and her parents found work in their respective medical fields. And so continued the life of Martina Nikolova in England. She went on to study her chosen subject with avid zeal, burrowing deeper and deeper into the planet’s ancient past. Another pivotal point in her life was the discovery of the sunken ancient cities phenomenon and a hole knew archaeological opportunity opened up before her. Suddenly the challenge to practice her chosen profession under such difficult circumstances became extremely appealing to the ever seeking self-improvement through adversity young woman. She immediately enrolled in diver training and shifted the focus of her studies to underwater archaeology with a side interest in archaeozoology. She felt it necessary to supplement her understanding of the disappearance of the ancient civilizations with the understanding of the dying out of the ancient fauna and megafauna as well. By the time she finished her studies and received her PhD in Archaeology and Archaeozoology she was already a master diver and had explored most of the underwater ancient sites multiple times. She is a published author of articles in the field, but most of her work is considered fringe much to the chagrin of her mainstream doctor parents, as she readily accepts the possibility that humanity’s history might be much, much older that what the mainstream academia deems it to be. Having explored and studied multiple sunken sites, she is convinced that our planet witnessed an earlier civilization prior to our current one and is desperately trying to find proof for her hypotheses. [h3]Skills and Stats[/h3] Gifted(+5): Archaeology, Biology Adept(+3): Hand-to-Hand, History, Awareness Average(+2): First Aid, Anthropology, Persuasion Novice(+1): Marksmanship - handguns, Engineering, Crafting, Stealth [b][u]Languages[/u][/b] Bulgarian - Bilingual English - Bilingual Japanese - beginner Is well versed in several ancient languages /Sanskrit, Egyptian, Sumerian, etc./ [h3]Relationships[/h3] [b]Relationship Status:[/b] Single [b]Family:[/b] Father – Daniel Nikolov, alive, warm relationship Mather – Elena Stoyanova, alive, warm relationship [b]Opinions of Other Researchers/Crewmembers:[/b] [list] [*] Not as of yet [/list] [h3]Miscellaneous[/h3] [b]Other:[/b] Has an extensive knowledge of all types of rope knots, from the more basic, to the most complex.