Madam Circe
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Circe VirtueVerse
[[Image: |300px|]] | |
Madam Circe | |
Player: | |
Origin: | Magic |
---|---|
Archetype: | Mastermind |
Security Level: | 18 |
Personal Data | |
Real Name: | Circe Salvatore |
Known Aliases: | The Magnificent Madam Circe, That witch woman |
Species: | Human Witch |
Age: | 27 |
Height: | 5'7"ish |
Weight: | Mmmm...no. |
Eye Color: | Green |
Hair Color: | Blonde |
Biographical Data | |
Nationality: | Italian/American |
Occupation: | Stage Magician, Sorceress, Hero |
Place of Birth: | Confidential |
Base of Operations: | ' |
Marital Status: | Married...to her work |
Known Relatives: | Unknown |
Known Powers | |
Spellcasting | |
Known Abilities | |
Spellcasting, Divination, Potion Making | |
Equipment | |
A bevy of magical materials, artifacts, tomes, equipment and other trinkets, both from her own days of heroism as well as her family's stock. | |
No additional information available. |
Contents |
Background
Born Circe Salvatore, Circe knows very little of her parentage beyond her birth name. She knows that her mother was a witch of some sort, and nearly nothing of her father. Beyond that, her search for answers is ongoing.
The family she grew up with however, she knows all too well of. A pair of religious fanatics, Clancy and Mary Garland were unable to have children of their own, but were desperate to have a family, even in their still into their forties. They were finally able to adopt the young 3 year old, and promptly changed her blasphemous name to one more suitable: Margaret. She was swiftly baptized and joined her parents church, The Church of the Purifying Light.
And so Circe, or Margaret, spent the next few years being beaten and berated with the Lord's good gospel, all the while rebelling against "those damn zealots" as she came to call them when she was 6. Despite her "parent's" tutelage, she grew to be a very intelligent, outgoing, and strong willed girl. She never bought any of Mary's tripe about dutiful wives and women being the lessers of men. She knew that strength was the providence of anyone with the ability to earn it, and she waited for the day when she could leave the abusive hell hole of a "home" that she was imprisoned in. Little did she know she had all the strength she needed.
She had always chalked it up to weird coincidence, but Circe had magic in her blood, and was given her name for a reason: she had the power to magically transmogrify one thing into another. However this power remained relatively dormant due to the stress of her life, and her adoptive parent's abuses. For they became all to aware that their daughter was different when anytime she got upset, a vase would burst into pebbles, or Mary's pet bird into a snake. Eventually Circe found out what she could do, and began trying to control it. She learned little things, such as changing her eye or nail color, or a needle into a match. But her powers were still relatively uncontrollable.
During her childhood, Circe reveled in stories of magic and mythology, and devoured any piece of literature with such stories she could find. She idolized those she saw as women heroes (disliking the word heroines) such as Morgan leFey, Marie leVeau, and (unknowingly ironically) the sorceress Circe. Noticing her quick mind and interests, Circe's favorite teacher provided her with all sorts of books about her favorite subjects, and the two grew close. Ms. Warwick was the first person to foster her creativity, intellect and self esteem. She was also the first to direct Circe toward what would become her career: magic. Ms. Warwick gave her a beginners magic kit and Circe learned quick the basic magic tricks in there. She then turned her focus on learning as much of this magic as possible, even learning how to focus her own transformative magicks in new ways, incorporating them into her tricks. But even with a new rallying point and ray of hope, she still couldn't completely control her budding powers.
Finally, when she was 13 and her powers seemed to be more out of control than ever, her parents had an exorcist from their church come to rid her of the "devil" inside. After 2 days of struggle, Circe found herself drained, and willing to finally give in to their ridiculous ritual. But it wasn't rediculous at all. The ritual did purge her, just not of any demon. It took her powers. For the days after, Circe felt a hole where her powers used to be, only to be filled by depression and despair.
And so Circe became complacent, languishing around the house and soullessly doing whatever was asked of her. It wasn’t until a sermon in church, where the pastor was preaching about how God was everywhere, in everything, which got Circe thinking. If she had magic before then she could certainly learn it again, even if it wasn’t the power she had before the “exorcism”. Who knows, maybe she could regain what she lost, or even get back at the preacher who stole it from her.
With that, Circe devoured anything she could get her hands on about genuine magic, not an easy feat in her neck of the woods. However she worked her way through simple spells, changing eye or hair color, levitating paper and such. Doing so gave her a thrill, albeit a temporary one, with each spell being an almost transcendent experience. With each spell she also began to come out of her shell more and more, spending her last several years in high school making friends, participating in school plays and generally enjoying her life despite her “parents” oppressive ways.
During this time she noticed a trend in her small town, with the Church gaining more and more power, with the adults of the town getting more and more fanatical, the town becoming more puritanical by the day. Circe, with new confidence and attitude to match was an unwelcome presence in their midst.