Name: Clarissa (Claire) Kerley Loughnane
True Name: Praecampere (roughly ‘bursting magic’)
Race: Changeling
Court (if applicable): N/A
Appearance:
Standing at a height of only four feet nine inches and weighing a mere sixty-seven pounds, Claire does a pretty good job of disappearing in crowds when she wants to, her choice of somber clothing helping her further blend into the urban landscape and become inconspicuous. Her lack of significant muscle tone and a youthful figure also help her evade notice, appearing at first glance to be just another child on the streets.
The fact that her short, curly hair is dark pink may hinder her attempts at discretion, however. In fact, the oddity of the hair color tends to be a pretty big warning sign for those who harbor a fear of changelings and wyld magic. When she’s not worried about people reacting adversely to her nature, she tends to decorate it with ribbons or clips that her mother gave her when she was younger. The only abnormal trait of her grayish blue eyes is that they appear to be metallic, but it can be hard to notice compared to her hair. When she’s glamming on the other hand, they’re usually all people notice about her.
The clothes that she usually chooses to wear are loose, yet comfortable, allowing for good freedom of movement. This normally means that she wears trousers and tunics, with a cloak and gloves for colder weather. It is also quite common for her to wear a sleeveless vest of some kind over her tunics to provide additional protection from the elements without hindering movement. A belt about her waist also allows her to carry her purse and some other things she may need on her.
Background: Claire was born to a female alchemist who really should have known better than to continue dealing with glamming materials while pregnant, but desperately needed the income. As such, she was born a changeling, expected to die shortly after being born. But, by some strange stroke of fortune, she managed to cling to life, her mother taking care of her. Living out in the Blight where conditions were poor at best, it was not a very luxurious or fulfilling childhood, especially with her inability to go for more than four hours without a dose of glam. There were times when she would push the boundary a bit while she was helping her mother, but she could never manage to go longer than a few minutes without it, body seizing up as if something was drastically wrong without it. And even when she had had a dose, she was still prone to spacing out or vivid hallucinations, including a particularly chatty individual named Lucius Pontias IV who liked to show up whenever it was most inconvenient. Really, it was a wonder that her mother had managed to stay sane at all dealing with her.
When she was old enough to understand things like the alchemical recipes her mother used, she began learning the tricks of the trade, her mother hoping that she could help out and increase their income by a significant margin. That was also how she learned to make fairy dust, a low-grade form of glam. At the very least, that gave her some self-sufficiency that allowed her mother some measure of greater freedom, which was kind of essential for her as the face of the business. No one would buy anything from a changeling, of course, so Claire did a lot of the mixing work. And the set-up seemed to work quite well. They weren’t living in a palace, obviously, but they were able to maintain rent and purchase food and clothing when needed.
It is a common proverb that all good things must one day come to an end, and it certainly seemed to be true of Claire and her mother. The way of life that they had managed to create and maintain was seemingly destroyed in an instant as the Iron Police kicked down the door and stormed the building. Her mother, afraid of what the Iron Police would do if they found a changeling in the building, hid her away carefully with a few doses of glam and went to talk to the commander of the group. From what Claire could hear through the door, they had received an anonymous tip that glam was being produced in the building and were thus there to investigate the premises. Unfortunately, they did find some fairy dust left in one of the pots that they used for mixing. As a human, she was just going to be arrested, but the commander also ordered the building burned as a warning to the fae alchemists who may be producing the same foul drug. While they were outside the building preparing to set it ablaze, Claire managed to grab two tomes of recipes, a bag with twenty copper pieces, the few doses of glam, and her cloak before sneaking out the back.
Knowing that her doses of glam wouldn’t last her very long, Claire attempted to figure out some way of being able to produce more, only chancing upon a contact for one of the local wylding gangs by complete accident. The contact recognized that she was a changeling due to her strange hair color and casually mentioned that his boss would like to meet her. Figuring she had no other choice, she agreed and followed the guy to a decrepit building that appeared to be on the verge of collapsing. He led her inside and to the boss, passing several other gang members in the process. Then, after a process eerily similar to a job interview, the boss decided that she would be allowed to join if she would agree to cook glam, figuring that it might allow him to make more money. Ever since, she’s been with them.
Possessions: Two books of alchemy recipes, a small purse with twenty copper pieces in it, two changes of clothing, her cloak, the ribbons and clips that her mother gave her, a set of lockpicks the gang gave her, and her gloves.
Talents: Claire is pretty good with remembering recipes and creating potions and other substances of high quality, which makes her a great cook for the gang. Due to her nature as a changeling, she’s also had to learn how to be stealthy and avoid detection. The gang has also taught her a lot about performing other illegal activities, such as picking locks or pockets, as well as how to protect herself with a knife. Usually, she doesn't use these skills in the field, but the boss considers it a good idea for everyone to learn them anyway. Her control over the wyld magic, limited though it may be, could also technically qualify as a talent, despite being a trait of her nature.
Glamer: Wyld magic
If I need to edit anything, feel free to say something. :3
