Selena Santana

Name	Selena Santana
Race	Human
Type	Troll Hunter
Faction	The Night Stalkers, BDA
Premiere	Desideratum: Blood Bonds
Relative(s)	N/A

Selena Santana

"Hey mamacita, I guess you already met this green grease ball."

Biography

Pre-Desideratum: Blood Bonds

Born in Carlsbad, New Mexico, Selena Santana grew up in a small town. She had a poor family, but she never cared much about money. Her father was an old biker and her mother was an artist, and she had a good childhood. She had four brothers and a sister as well. They never owned a television, computer, or smartphone. While her mother painted, her father taught Selena all about motorcycles. She needed nothing but nature for her entertainment, and grew up spelunking in the nearby Guadalupe Mountains hiking through the caves of Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Every chance she got, from the time she was thirteen, she would traverse the caverns with her family. This continued for a decade. Over that time, she grew into an adult. Her loving family accepted her sexual orientation, even though the Catholic Church at the time did not. It was on a caving hike with her family and her girlfriend that her entire life changed.

She knew the caverns well, but when they repelled down into a chasm, she saw a tunnel that had never been there before. Her father helped her girlfriend down, and her mother and siblings followed. They all agreed that this large opening was new, yet it appeared natural. Intrigued, the innocent people explored the tunnel. They had no idea that trolls and goblin-kin existed nor did they realize that they were in mortal danger. As they hiked, they were being watched by beady eyes in the darkness. Goblins and bogarts were skittering around in the shadows, surrounding the humans. When they leaped out of holes and fell from the ceiling, the Santana’s were completely taken off guard. Her father and brothers were using their pick axes to fight off the creatures yelling for the women to run. Selena led her mother, sister, and girlfriend back the way that they had come as the yelling and clamor of battle echoed behind them. However, when they managed to reach the cliff which they had repelled down, the women noticed how quiet the cave behind them had grown. Looking into the blackness, they suddenly saw little red eyes and heard strange words. Selena tried with everything that she had to help the others to ascend their ropes, but the goblins simply climbed up the sheer rock without care of effort.

The little monsters grabbed the others and only Selena managed to reach the top of the subterranean cliff. Just then three goblins also came up and Selena managed to kick them. The screaming creatures died when they hit the ground below. And, as Selena shone her light into the dank cavern, she caught sight of the creatures carrying the women through the tunnel- which sealed up right before her eyes. For almost an hour, dazed, confused, and in shock, Selena just sat, crying. However, the sadness gave way to rage, and she made her way out of the caverns. Sobbing, she drove back to Carlsbad, and to the police station. Sobbing, she gave her statement. The authorities did not believe the part about “little green men,” attributing it to shock, but they immediately launched search parties. Other than the cables, there was no sign of her family. A day later, they took her to the cave and she showed them exactly where the cavern had been, but after hours of digging, there was still only solid rock. They called the search off after two weeks, and Selena was devastated.

She spent almost a month in a fugue state, romancing her house, looking at pictures, sitting at the table, and imagining her family coming home any second. However, one day, she went into the garage and saw her father’s motorcycle. It now had dust all over it. Something within her snapped. She grabbed her father’s gun, all the knives that she could find, and polished her father’s bike until it shone. She drove out to Carlsbad Caverns and promised herself that she would not leave until she found her family. Carrying a pack of supplies, she managed to hike the caverns for a full two days before she found a small passage that had never been there before. She got on her hands and knees and crawled along until she found herself in a massive chamber. Glowing crystals and mushrooms adorned the walls and she almost wretched from a foul odor when, suddenly, a sickening laughter echoed around her. She carefully made her way around to see a massive brownish creature looming over her girlfriend. Then her eyes looked past him to see her mother and sister, both dead. Their nude corpses appeared to have had all their bones broken. The creature complained that the other two could not handle mating with a troll, but that the goblins had already had this girl for a month, and that it was time for him to try and have sons.

She could not stand by and rushed at him. Lifting her gun she shot the troll several times. It casually turned to face her even as she fired the last bullet. Then it smiled, saying that she had come back and now he would try her too. She pulled out the knives and slashed and stabbed at the troll repeatedly. He simply stood, laughing, as she literally tired herself out and stumbled backwards from fatigue. Every wound that she inflicted sealed up without a trace. Gloating over her, he laughed, but her girlfriend suddenly leapt on his back, yelling for Selena to run. She watched as the troll nonchalantly reached back, pulled her off, and wrung her body the way a person would do to a wet towel. The sickening crunch echoed. He then tossed her body aside. Selena thought that she would also die, and just as the troll reached for her, she saw his arm fall off. The troll slowly paused, his face showing confusion. He lackadaisically looked at his arm and then to her. Then, something wrapped around his head, and his head simply fell off. It stared up at her with startled eyes as if it had no idea what happened. In that moment, Selena was lifted into a man’s arms. He carried her away over his shoulder, giving her a view as he ran. She watched the troll’s body teeter a moment, and then fall over. Suddenly, the cavern began collapsing.

The next thing that she remembered was waking up outside. The man stood over her. He knelt down and handed her a bottle of red, glowing liquid. Dazed and in pain she drank it. It felt warm as it went down and her pain suddenly vanished. Blinking up at him, she looked terrified. He told her not to fret, that his name was Guðmundur Sigurðsson, and like his father, Sigurð, he was a troll hunter. He had come to the caverns after reading an article about the strange disappearance of her family and her own descriptions of the goblins that took them. He assured her that she was not in danger anymore and he apologized that he had not arrived sooner to save her friend. With that he turned to leave, but Selena leapt to her feet, desiring to know more. Tenaciously, she demanded that he explain about this. And, he decided to make a camp there and explain it all. She learned about trolls and goblin-kin, and swore to avenge her family.

Guðmundur, Gummi as she eventually called him, taught her all about the art of troll hunting. He took her on several hunts across the U.S. She drove her father’s motorcycle everywhere. He used a long sword that could detach like a whip. That was what she had seen encircle the troll’s neck before beheading the beast. He gave her a pair of whips to train with and he would let her fight the goblin-kin on their subterranean raids while he would slay the trolls. Then, after a couple of years, Gummi told her that she had learned all that he could teach her, but that his father had sent her a gift. Curious, she opened a long leather pouch to find two swords.

He said that Sigurð forged the blades using an enchanted hammer artifact. This allowed him to shape adamantine itself. The metal was only available from certain Norse realms of the Inner Light, and because of her bravery and honor, he wanted her to have them. He told her that only this enchanted metal could cut a troll and stop it from regenerating. Gummi said that should she ever be asked by another troll hunter what her name was, to tell them “Guðmundurdottir” and that she would be honored by them. Lifting the swords, she was amazed at their light weight. It felt as though they were the same leather whips she had grown accustomed to. She was sad to say goodbye, but he felt that with her roaming the U.S., he felt it was safe enough for him to move on to other countries in search of trolls and those to train in hunting them.

With an eternal hatred for goblin-kin in her heart, Selena set out to rid America of them all. For another year, she slew them in the hundreds and killed several trolls as well. However, that all changed one night when Selena had gone to Harriman State Park in New York to slay the troll. She did not realize the massive number of goblin-kin in the mountain and she was forced to retreat. Trying to survive, she rushed out of the cave system towards her father’s motorcycle; this is when she would meet an unlikely ally, the gremlin, Grimey Geargrinder. Selena jumped onto her bike, but the old motorcycle would not start. As the angry screams of a goblin army neared and she was screaming for the cycle to start, Grimey decided he’d rather leave with her than stay with the mean troll. Steeling himself, he slowly emerged.

Selena whipped out her weapons, but Grimey cowered on the ground, pleading for her to take him with her. As long as she would, he’d start her bike for her and they could both go. Hating goblin-kin with absolute vitriol, there was a moment where she contemplated slaying him, even if it meant being torn to pieces by the approaching horde. However, she promised not to hurt him if he saved her, and he possessed the motorcycle. They took off just as the goblins rushed at them and the pair escaped into the night. Once they got to the slummy hotel she was staying at, she told him to go away or she would slay him. Seemingly hurt, a tactic she thought was faked, he skulked away. However, each night he would be waiting for her by her bike. Though she chased him off, he generally had funny remarks and compliments for her. Finally she asked him what he wanted, and he said he only wanted a friend.

Still skeptical, she asked him more questions. He told her about his life, how different goblin-kin function as a society, and even gave her maps of the caves in good faith. He did not like the troll either, and she was shocked when he gave her pointers on how to defeat it. She eventually succeeded because of his help, and grudgingly invited him to move on to the next hunt with her. He possessed her bike and the pair only grew closer over time. Their path led them all over the U.S. until they wound up in Portland. There, Selena met up with the local Night Stalkers, but hid Grimey from them.

Desideratum: Blood Bonds

In Desideratum: Blood Bonds, Selena is one of the Night Stalkers, and is companioned by Grimey Geargrinder. When Absinthe Van Gothen arrived at Sanctuary, Grimey was wary of her, however, Selena found the woman to be very attractive. She had not felt that way about anyone since her girlfriend and family had died. She offered to take the fledgling hunter on a goblin hunt. Absinthe had already visited the House of Haggle, a monster shop ran by the hobgoblin, Hobs Hornswaggle. The nosferatu, Brone Lorcan, had informed Absinthe that in the other direction of the cavern was a lair of goblins and to avoid it. Together, the pair made their way to the place. However, Stenhållare, Son of Dovregubben, a troll, felt the women enter his domain. He had just purchased an Adder Stone and was eager to use it. Summoning an immense amount of his power, he created a stone hand to grab one of the women. As the hand reached for Abby, Selena pushed her out of the way and was pulled through the very ground and deposited hundreds of feet below the surface and deposited in the troll’s chamber. While trapped, he disarmed the woman of her adamantine weapons given to her by Guðmundur Sigurðsson, forged by his father, Sigurð. Though exhausted from his magic spell, he was going to use the Adder Stone on Selena and impregnate her.

Then, he received word from his minions that her companion, Absinthe, was wreaking total havoc among his forces. Intrigued, he decided to rest as she exhausted herself. If she managed to actually reach him, he would simply smash her into submission and then use the stone on her, ensuring that his sons would be as fierce as she. She did manage to reach him, and he sorely underestimated her. Thanks to the Blood Suit, a suit made from the very blood of Vlad Țepeș, and her own inherent blessed Van Gothen bloodline, she stood her ground against the massive troll. She realized that none of her weapons were cutting Stenhållare. He laughed and gloated as the wounds sealed shut. However, the night before, Abby had acquired the artifact, Dyrnwyn, a mystical sword of fire. Having disarmed Selena, the troll thought any true threat to his life was absolved, but as Absinthe hacked him with the sword, the wounds cauterized, and Stenhållare eventually fell dead. Absinthe collected Selena’s discarded swords and helped the woman flee to safety as the enchanted section of the Marble Halls collapsed around them.

On the night that Nuit was to be summoned, Ivor ordered an attack on the Night Stalkers and their Sanctuary. Swords in hand, Selena decapitated countless Nightbred in a bid to protect her friends. At one point in the battle she was almost slain, but Grigori Rasputin used light magicks to heal her mortal wounds. After Absinthe and Evelyn Addams left the fight to stop the conjuration of the goddess, agents from the Bureau of Demonic Analysis arrived and aided the hunters in their defense. Afterwards, Selena and the other Night Stalkers were placed inside the building’s foundry and given a choice to aid the government or be considered a terrorist group and face prison. When Absinthe and Brone arrived victorious, Selena agreed that to aid the BDA was better than the alternative.

Appearance

Selena is a young woman with greyish-blue hair. She is well-tempered, always seeming to be in a good mood.

Abilities

• Strong Physical Attacks
• Expert Melee Fighter
• Expert Troll Hunter

Notes and Trivia

Selena is a lesbian. In multiple of Sanctuary's Bad Ends, Selena can be transformed.