Callie
Character Name: Calypso Hecate Dranias, Companion of the Holy Arch of Enoch, Dame of the Rose-Croix and Initiate of the Inner Gnostic Mysteries.
Aliases: Callie, Hecate
Race/Species: Human
Gender: Female
Actual Character Age: 29
Home Territory: London 2007,
Jacob's Ladder Earth
Height: 5' 11"
Weight: 150 lbs.
Physical Build: Medium, curvy.
Physical Description: Short wavy black hair and olive skin. Hazel eyes and prominent Greek features. Silver stud in nose. Extensively tattooed with sleeve tattoos on both arms all the way to the fingertips. The portions of the tattoos usually visible are fairly innocuous with vines and stylized roses. Towards the upper parts of her arms the tattoos become more esoteric, showing Coptic script and sigils winding into an intricate seal that spreads across the skin of her back depicting warding and tutelary angels intertwining with warding sigils. The tattoos detect as a magical ward to those able to sense magic.
Typically she dresses casually, in keeping with London club culture. Baggy pants and a long-sleeve t-shirt occasionally with a thick outdoors winter vest. Almost always seen with a messenger bag to carry her gear. Often she is found wearing a miniaturized keyboard about her neck, with the rows of keys resting on her collarbone. She speaks with a Scouse accent.
While casting, a translucent blue image of a male angel with sweeping owl's wings may be seen standing behind her. This is common during more involved or lengthy castings and represents Callie drawing upon her Animus as part of the casting.
Personal Information/History/Background: Callie is the youngest daughter of a middle class family of Greek immigrants living in England. Throughout her schooling she showed interest and talent with mathematics and linguistics.
While she was away at Oxford University, Callie became interested in the occult through one of her professors. That same professor would later introduce her to a modern offshoot of the Ordo Templi Orientis.
Over a tense few months, she was tested, both by her professor and by a number of enigmatic individuals to determine her loyalty. In her Sophomore year, she undertook her Mystery Play, a confusing trial of riddles and visions from spirits. It was during this that she first drew upon her Animus and proved she was sufficiently disciplined to practice magic. Here under informal tutoring she learned the protocols of magical society and was first tutored in scrying and sensing magical workings. By the time she had her Master's degree she was also a third-degree initiate.
Hungry for more after completing her mundane studies, she traveled to Cairo at the recommendation of the Oxford magi that had overseen her initiation. There she honed her occult skills in the libraries of the Black School, refining her knowledge of wards and learning the Goetia, the Lesser Key of Solomon.
After two years at the Black School, Callie made a pilgrimage to the Invisible College of Prague. There she spent three years in extensive study of numerology, learning the secret meanings behind names and the art of Gematria.
After her time in the Invisible College, she moved to London and fell in with the seamier elements of club culture, as well as the magical and criminal underworlds of the city. Prior to rifting into Kaerwyn she leads a risky life as an information broker who can provide secrets few else can. Her business extends both to the real world and a number of online communities of questionable legality. She has often served as a security specialist to corporations and mobsters alike. This has placed her in the line of fire quite a few times, as she is often overambitious in who she sells to.
Mindscape: The Watchtower of Poimandres
Callie's mindscape is her childhood home, the city of Liverpool. However it is dominated by one structure that is not present in the real-life city, an alabaster watchtower that stretches high into the sky, its lantern shining brightly over the whole mindscape. Upon entering the mindscape, one approaches from Liverpool Bay, which is fed by the River Mersey which runs alongside the city. Dipping into the waters of the river, one may sample Callie's thoughts as they filter through to her conscious mind in the bay itself. On the outskirts of the city, the memories one may encounter are from her early childhood, with the years progressing as one approaches the central tower. The memories in the city streets only go up to when she left for University.
The tower itself contains her memories from University on, as intertwined as they have become with her magical learning. Climbing the tower, one can find later memories the higher one ventures. The rooms in the lowest floors are her University dorm and the libraries of Oxford. Within her dorm room is a representation of her porcelain ceremonial mask, and donning it allows one to view Callie's memories of her Mystery Play and initiation into the Ordo Templi Orientis. Climbing further reveals strata representing her time in Cairo at the Scholomance, and her time in Prague at the Invisible College.
The windows of the watchtower look out upon different vistas depending upon which of the strata one has reached. The Oxford rooms look out upon its campus, as do the Black School's and the Invisible College's. Above lies a section of the tower which looks out over London.
At the top of the tower where the lantern shines, the scenery a visitor looks down on is not of anywhere on Earth. The watchtower juts impossibly high from a rocky cliffside. Beyond the cliffs waves crash and an ocean stretches out, stars twinkling in its depths. One edge of the top of the tower is without a rail, lying open as cold winds buffet the lantern's flame. If Liverpool Bay is the entrance to Callie's mindscape this is the ostensible exit, a leap of faith she will eventually have to take in order to continue her path of enlightenment and begin to climb the Tree of Life on her way to the Sword Bridge over the Abyss.
Inhabitants of the Tower
Though the city itself is populated exclusively by Callie's memories, the tower is host to several unique entities which may be encountered within. These represent more active portions of Callie's personality and her quest for enlightenment.
- The Court of the Shadow - A group of strange individuals travel between all floors in mockery of a royal procession, occasionally hosting a court in one of the rooms. While the court is presiding, visitors run the risk of being drawn into their bacchanal which is a cavalcade of Callie's vices and flaws.
- The Shadow - A literal silhouette, this figure appears to be roughly Callie's height and build. Studying the shape, it can be seen that it is draped in finery and a crown lies upon its head. Though it is the apparent ruler of the court, it is always led about on a leash by one or more of the other members of the court. When it speaks, it speaks with Callie's voice.
- Duke Barbatos - A wizened old man, he advises the Shadow, though he is most often also the one leading it on its leash. He represents Callie's hubris, and shamelessly flatters the Shadow.
- Duke Saleos - A handsome young man in armor, holding a crocodile at bay upon a chain. He represents Callie's sexual appetites and is the Shadow's most frequent partner in the revels of the court.
- Duke Crocell - A sour-faced angel laden down with chains. He represents Callie's spite. He speaks little to any but the Shadow, and advises it on matters of retribution.
- The Daimon - The Daimon also roams among the many floors of the tower. While the Court of the Shadow represents Callie's actual flaws, the Daimon represents her struggle against them and her quest to better herself. It appears as a perfect duplicate of Callie, though often injured from its many battles with the Court. It is highly knowledgeable about Callie's shortcomings and what it feels she must do to overcome them, but can speak of little else. It will often urge visitors to climb higher in the tower.
- The Rebis - Found only at the top of the tower, the Rebis is the representation of Callie's goals and aspirations. Tending the flame of the tower's lantern, it is a combined being, a man and a woman joined at the spine. The woman is easily identifiable as Callie, while the man can be recognized as her Animus by those who have seen it.
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