Olympic Coven

"And yet, they were all exactly alike. Every one of them was chalky pale, the palest of all the students living in this sunless town... They all had very dark eyes despite the range in hair tones. They also had dark shadows under those eyes - purplish, bruise-like shadows. As if they were all suffering from a sleepless night... Their faces, so different, so similar, were all devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful."

- Bella on seeing the Cullens for the first time

Background Information
The Olympic coven, more commonly known as the Cullen family, and also known as Cullen clan, or Cullen coven, is a coven of vegetarian vampires. It consists of Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Emmett, and Edward Cullen, as well as Rosalie and Jasper Hale. Later in the series, Bella Cullen and her vampire hybrid daughter with Edward, Renesmee Cullen, are also introduced to the coven. Five of nine members are supernaturally gifted. The Cullens are the second largest and most powerful coven, with only the Volturi ranking higher in number and power, but more mature and stable than most others, a result of abstaining from human blood and hunger for power.

They are known to be very loyal to each other and put more value on human life than most other vampires. Abstaining from human blood takes the competitive aspect out of their hunting instincts, and as a result allows them to form stronger family bonds than traditional vampires. They currently live in Forks, Washington, which they have no plans of leaving, unless forced to.

The Cullens prefer to stay in one place as long as possible, choosing cloudy climates where they can go outside during the day without revealing their inhuman nature. But after 6-7 years, they are forced to move on before their lack of aging is noticed. They own several residences so that they can return to places they have especially enjoyed - but only after enough time has passed that they won't be recognized as the same people who once lived there.

Each member maintains several well-tended identities, complete with documents to support them, which allows the Cullens to establish themselves in new locations as necessary.

Each time the Cullens move to a new place, the relationships they claim to share with one another may shift, too. In one place, two members might pose as father and adopted son, in another, brothers, or uncle and nephew. Regardless, the bonds of love and respect between them are the same.

History
Carlisle Cullen: Born in 1640 in England, Carlisle Cullen is the founder of the Olympic coven. At a time when humankind believed in mythical creatures, he was tasked by his father to hunt evil creatures. He then found an actual coven of vampires and was bitten by one when he led a mob to kill them. He was repulsed when he realized what had happened to him, and tried many times to kill himself, though ultimately unsuccessful. He eventually found that he could survive on a diet of animal blood without harming human beings, and so began to practice feeding only on animals.

He traveled to Europe to study in universities at night, and eventually met the Volturi. After staying with them for two decades, he left because he was unwilling to feed on humans, which they endlessly attempted to entice him to. He eventually found his way to America, and became a doctor in hopes of using what he had to help those in need. Edward Masen, Jr: In September of 1918, Carlisle was working night shifts in a Chicago hospital, when the Spanish influenza hit the city. Among the many people who were dying from it, there was a 17-year old boy named Edward Anthony Masen, Jr. After being unable to save his parents, Carlisle decided to turn him, partly out of loneliness and partly because Edward's mother, Elizabeth Masen asked him to do anything he could to save Edward. By changing Edward, the Olympic coven was formed. Carlisle realized Edward's power soon after his transformation. They began to travel together, using the cover story of Edward being the younger brother of Carlisle's late wife. Esme Platt-Evenson: In 1921, Carlisle changed a young 26-year-old woman named Esme Anne Platt Evenson to save her from dying after an attempted suicide. They first met each other in 1911 when Carlisle treated her broken leg. The encounter made an impact on both of them so much that neither forgot the other. Esme accepted her new destiny with grace, and soon Carlisle and Esme fell in love and got married.

In between 1927 and 1931, Edward left Esme and Carlisle to try a vampire/vigilante lifestyle, preying only on the worst people in society while avoiding the innocent. His first victim was Esme's abusive ex-husband. Over time, however, his guilt of these justifiable murders became too much, compelling him to return to them and drink animal blood again. Rosalie Hale: While living in New York in 1933, Carlisle found an 18-year old girl named Rosalie Lillian Hale after she was assaulted near death by her drunken fiancé, Royce King, and his friends. Wanting to save her and partly intending for her to become Edward's mate, Carlisle took her home and changed her. However, Edward and Rosalie's relationship never advanced beyond that of siblings. After getting revenge on her fiancé and his friends, Rosalie begrudgingly joined their family in order to avoid loneliness. Other than Carlisle, she was the only one who retained her surname. Emmett McCarty: In 1935, Rosalie found a young 20-year old man named Emmett McCarty being mauled by a bear. Rosalie carried him for miles to Carlisle, who then changed him into a vampire. Emmett, having already fallen in love with Rosalie, accepted his new state rather quickly. Emmett and Rosalie soon fell in love and married and did so repeatedly over the decades. After leaving a small bag of fortune for his human family, Emmett never looked back. In 1936, the Cullens moved to Forks, Washington, where they ran into a pack of shape-shifters led by Ephraim Black. The two groups signed a treaty, agreeing to a truce as long as the Cullens lived there. The Cullen family moved away from Forks some time after this. Jasper Whitlock and Mary Alice Brandon: 19-year olds Mary Alice Brandon — known as Alice — and Jasper Whitlock, found the Cullens and joined them in 1950. Alice changed her surname to Cullen and Jasper changed his to Rosalie's surname of Hale, and out of the similarities in their appearance he posed as Rosalie's twin. This becomes their cover story while attending school with humans.

The Cullen family encountered many vampire covens, but never found one that shared the same dietary on animal blood until they met the Denali coven, and stayed with them for a while. They eventually began to attract too much attention - due to their similarities and the amount of numbers - and the Cullens moved back to Forks. By this time, the Cullens were aware that Ephraim and his pack were dead, but still respected the treaty by staying away from Quileute traditional lands and not harming humans.

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