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"Bloody Hell…"
History
Lady Lara Croft is an 11th generation Countess. The Croft family was granted the title and rights to Abbingdon, Surrey by King Edward VI in 1547. The Croft Estates are comprised of three separate manor houses, two of which are maintained by the National Trust, and the third is home to Lady Croft.
Lara Croft was born in Surrey's Parkside hospital to Lady Amelia Croft and the notorious archaeologist Lord Richard Croft, the late Earl of Abbingdon. Between the ages of three and six, she attended the Abbingdon Girls School, where it quickly became clear that she was an exceptionally gifted child.
At the age of nine she survived a plane crash in the Himalayas that took the life of her mother. In perhaps the first story of her prodigious indomitability, she somehow survived a solo ten-day trek across the Himalayan mountains, one of the most hostile environments on the planet. The story goes that when she arrived in Katmandu she went to the nearest bar and made a polite telephone call to her father asking if it would be convenient for him to come and pick her up.
For six years following the plane crash, Lara rarely left her father's side, traveling around the world from one archaeological dig site to another. During this period she was ostensibly given a standard education from private tutors, but it would probably be more accurate to say she was her father's full time apprentice.
When Lara was fifteen, her father went missing in Cambodia. Extensive searches by the authorities and Lara herself turned up human remains that could not definitively be identified. Since Lord Croft's body was not officially recovered, Lara could not directly inherit the Croft title and Lara was thrust into a bitter family feud over control of the Abbingdon estates with her uncle Lord Errol Croft. Lara eventually won the legal battle, and took possession of her inheritance but at the cost of a deep rift in the Croft family that left her estranged from her living relatives.
Lady Lara Croft has already eclipsed her father's career; she is currently credited with the discovery of some fifteen archaeological sites of international significance. These sites are still yielding new and exciting insights to the past on an ongoing basis.
The most amazing discovery she's made, though, is gateways to what she believes is Avalon, the afterlife made famous by the stories of King Arthur. Pitted against a friend, Amanda Evert, whom she thought was dead, she raced to find the pieces to excalibur, which was needed to open one of the gateways around the world. She did so, and realized her mother was in Avalon, the afterlife made famous by King Arthur and his Knights. She then went on to find out where Avalon was located, running into Natla, a God-Queen she had defeated from destroying the world earlier in her life. Natla was an Atlantian demigod, once part of a triumvirate ruling the great empire. However, she wanted more, and tried to kill one of the other leaders. Because of this she was encased, but escaped and tried to succeed in her plans by using Lara. However, Lara won and killed Natla, or so she thought. Natla, fully alive and trapped in a jar by Amanda, told her that Avalon was actually Helheim, one of the Norse underworlds and a real location on the earth, as well as where her mother was located. The portals she encountered were teleportation devices to Helheim. Natla also told Lara that her father was employed by Natla to find this underworld, but he grew wary of her and hid an important artifact in Croft manor. For this Natla killed him. Lara recovered the artifact, yet in the process was attacked by a doppelganger of herself made by Natla. This doppelganger blew up Lara's mansion and shot her good friend Alister, leaving Lara, her butler Winston, and her other friend Zip in the wake. Although hurt by the death of her friend, her anger of not being able to save him kept her moving forward. She continued on, finding the other artifact necessary to open Helheim, and gets there finding out that it is not an afterlife paradise, but a spawning-place of zombie-like Thralls. Natla had tricked her, and used her to try to rule the world. Lara, however, defeated her, and left in time before the place was destroyed through a portal with Amanda's help like the ones she found previously in her time.
She was transported to the place where her mother had disappeared, and she left bidding her mother to rest in peace. A little while later while searching the ruins of her home she found another artifact used to control the Thralls she encountered in Helheim that her father had recovered earlier in his career. Whilst finding this her doppelganger her, sent by Natla who is still alive, though heavily scarred. Lara used this artifact to control the doppelganger and gave it its own free will. It then returned to Natla and kills her, relishing in her cries of agony and death. From this Lara decided to move on from her past, and adventuring to new and greater places.
Personality
Lara is incredibly mature for her age. She always remains level-headed, and rarely gives way to anger. However when she is angry, she is absolutely vicious, letting it all out like a storm. She's a very methodical person, and always thinks through situations before getting into them, and is near constantly analyzing every moment. She wants to know the answers to all of life's mysteries, and is often like a child constantly asking "why?" When faced with something she doesn't understand, she will relentlessly seek the answers even to the point of her own harm to get them. Although she has … endowment within her looks, she always acts like the lady she is, and will not let others, or herself, sully her name. She tries to be kind, but more often then not will act in a distant manner, studying a person before letting them get to know her. However, she is incredibly loyal to the few friends she has, and will defend them to the death. She prefers being alone much of her time, anyway, and finds little pleasure in big get-togethers or meetings. She would rather be in the field discovering something, asking for help only when she feels she really needs it. Lara is very attracted to beauty in different forms, art, architecture, music, and thrives on it. She really wants nothing more in life than to be surrounded by such beauty. Overall, Lara is bright, and usually quite happy, but can have her darker moments.
Abilities
Lara has great climbing and balance skills attributed to years in gymnastics, as well as combat training in various martial arts, but primarily kickboxing. She also has great knowledge and use in firearms, and usually keeps a pair of Heckler & Koch USP pistols nearby.
