Name: Phoebe Jones
Codename: Belladonna
Age: 21
Gender: Female
Place of Birth: Austin, Texas
Affiliations: Austin Community College, HEB, the Internet
Occupation: Part-time cashier at HEB, full-time college student
Appearance: Phoebe is yet another American mutt; a mix of nearly every Northern European ethnicity out there. She's 5'7", 150 pounds of Caucasian regularness. The only unique features are ones she despises; her pale, paper-white skin and matching blue eyes. She jokes that she's "halfway Albino". The only dark on her is her thick, frizzy mass of brown hair. She tames it with mousse and heavy-duty anti-frizz cream. If those don't work, out comes the ponytail holder! Phoebe does take pride in her C-cup breasts and slight, not-quite-hourglass figure. She also appreciates her eyeglasses--they draw attention to her eyes and make them seem larger.
Phoebe always wears a mojo bag on her person; usually in her pocket. She also wears a silver Hamsa hand amulet around her neck, even in costume.
Phoebe's costume is a full black outfit; pants, turtleneck, gloves, shoes, and even a velvet cloak. The only discernible marking is the Hamsa hand amulet, and her magic backpack.
Powers: Phoebe is a witch. She draws power from certain items, rituals, creatures, and spells. Her magic comes from the universe itself--the space and matter surrounding her. She learned to tap into this magic through the Awakening, when she started hearing and seeing things. She claims everything is self-aware and can speak, as long as you are willing and able to listen. The ability to hear and respond to it is magic.
Note that all magic requires energy to "pay" for the spell. There are various loopholes around this: like leaving a spell unfinished, but taking the "energy pay" early. Some spells are simply too powerful for the user to attempt, and can be paid with various time off of their life. Insane feats of magic, like controlling all of the Earth at once, can be paid with full years off of the person's life. But, a witch can never know their death date, so they may end up trying to avoid death in battle by paying with their life, and then die because their death date was so close.
Skills: Magic, knowledge of the occult, a high school education.
Phoebe specializes in chant magic: magic that works through use of speech over periods of time. She has dabbled in ritual magic--magic that works by gathering energy from various items, times, and places--and finds that very interesting, but more "spooky" than others. Ritual magic has a tendency to turn dark by requiring live animals, known poisons (frequently nightshade) and other suspicious materials.
Phoebe's knowledge of the occult comes from her stack of overdue library books on witchcraft and the almighty Internet.
Equipment/Resources: Phoebe's main weapons are wands made from the branches of a rowan tree left outside during a full moon. The branches can be used as temporary wands. They give off moonlight and can funnel spells through them for short periods of time. When simply used as a light source, they can last for a month. When used during a heavy battle (particularly one involving fire or explosive spells) they can wear away in an hour.
Phoebe keeps a variety of protective charms in her apartment and on her person. She wears a mojo bag meant to protect and ward off evil, and a
Hamsa hand to ward off the Evil Eye. She isn't sure if these actually work, or if the Evil Eye even exists, but she's not taking any chances.
Phoebe carries a backpack she wove out of magically impregnated thread. It acts as its own dimension, with enough space to fit an apartment's worth of furniture inside. Phoebe stores her magical supplies in there: her wands, a bag of salt, some really overdue library books on witchcraft, some black cat bones (for invisibility) and a few ready-made spells. Most word-based spells--chants and the like--are really, really long. They can be given a physical form and left just a few words unfinished. Phoebe regularly uses this loophole to create useful and destructive spells. She always has a least one water-breathing spell, one forcefield spell (a basic defensive spells that wards off most types of attacks, like guns, fists, and explosions.) , and a few of what she calls "The Holy Hand Grenade." It's a special spell that causes the air around it to spontaneously combust, as if someone threw a hand grenade. And, of course, Phoebe gave these spells the physical shape of a hand grenade.
Phoebe also uses the Internet as a source of occult knowledge and some spell ideas. Most of the stuff out there is fake, but some of it is true.
Weaknesses: Phoebe is not physically fit at all. This is why she makes spells beforehand, so she can pass out right after making them and not worry about fainting in the middle of battle. She is also not attuned to all types of magic. There is elemental magic, but that is a type of magic only available to a certain few who are naturally inclined towards one of the four. Phoebe is the most common type of magic user, one who is made equally of all four, and therefore the elements do not like to obey her.
Psychological Profile: Phoebe's more likely to "flight" than "fight". She's in the "hero business" to prove that she can be brave instead of actually wanting to help. She has been diagnosed with social anxiety and depression and dons the costume to fight that.
Biography: Phoebe was born and raised in Austin, Texas, the city that prides itself on "weird". She had a rather normal life with normal ups and downs; her parents split, she was raised by her mother, a brief moment of "teenage rebellious stage", and then back to normal. She grew up in three different apartments around the city, finally settling on the far Northern end of Austin.
Then the Awakening came. Phoebe had some really weird dreams that night. Something about that guy who died last year...He drank himself into a stupor in the laundry mat, then choked to death on his vomit...Phoebe blamed the dreams on her anti-depressants. They create some rather vivid dreams. But then she woke up, stumbled over to the coffee machine, and saw that someone was already using it.
The former neighbor who drank himself to death. He was in her kitchen, sipping coffee from her own mug. She screamed and fainted. When she came to, she found her mother standing over her, having no idea what was happening. The dead guy was gone, but the mug was still sitting on the counter with coffee in it. Her mother had seen nothing but the floating mug; Phoebe had to explain what she saw. Her mother believed her. Phoebe's mother claims to have experienced paranormal activity even before the Awakening, and was a firm believer in souls, ghosts, and being left on Earth.
Then they turned on the news and saw the panic erupting around the world. A metallic man, sudden reports of vampires, werewolves, and paranormal creatures even Phoebe couldn't place, and she prides herself on her knowledge of myths and religions. The world was in a panic. Phoebe's college cancelled their classes for the next week. Even her workplace closed for two days. With the extra free time, Phoebe searched for some explanation as to what the Awakening did to her.
She found that explanation in an acquaintance, a Wiccan guy named Gabriel. He had experienced a similar Awakening--what he called the Sight--and told her that what she had seen was a lost ghost. They took a walk to Starbucks and saw many other unexplainable things; dead people, changed people, paranormal creatures, and many more. She studied with him and learned the beginnings of magic. Then she took it a step further and incorporated other religions and cultures, not just Wiccan ideas. She quickly learned what worked and what didn't. For example, Tarot cards worked, but they were notoriously vague. Love spells don't work at all. Hypnotizing was another dud. However, a small explosive spells had great results, and became the base for her Holy Hand Grenade spell.
Soon magic became part of life for Phoebe. Her mother watched her carefully, making sure she remembered to eat, sleep, work, and study her classes. Phoebe would much rather work on honing her skills, but she had to pay rent and go to school too. So, Phoebe learned to balance the three parts of life. When she saw the League on CNN, she just had to join. She had no idea how. So, Phoebe decided to try and end up on the news as a long vigilantee. She donned her costume; a black velvet cloak, black skinny jeans, black turtleneck, crappy black Wal-Mart shoes, and a black ski mask. Not original or superhero-ish at all, but it protected her identity. She went out at night, stopped a few muggers and would-be rapists. She ended up on the local news, where they called her "a rogue sorcerer who fights petty crime", but has yet to attract national attention, or the eye of the League. That really discourages her, but Phoebe's coffee maker says she's a star, so she's got that going for her.