Name: Esme “Wren” Laveau

Profession: Fortune Teller, Hypnotist, Ju-Ju Merchant (and all around Shyster)

Sexual Orientation: Whatever suits the mood


PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Gender: Female

Age: 25

Hair: Black

Eyes: Black/Burgundy

Distinguishing Marks: Brightly colored tattoos that change seemingly at random. Her strangeness, her eclectic fashion sense and the hint of an indiscernible foreign accent make it clear Wren is not originally from the United States.

General Appearance: Though her looks are naturally soft and unassuming, Wren projects an exotic mix of elegance, filthiness and macabre. She typically wears a vivid mix of colors, patterns and textures that compliment her olive skin, and tends toward an excess of jewelry, all of which is meaningful in some way. She is never without the tiny turquoise nose piercing, a glittery stack of dangling, metal bracelets around her wrists, and hanging between her breasts, a beaten locket adorned with black polished stones.

POWERS

Hypnotism: It’s not a side-effect of the curse, but a skill Wren has mastered nonetheless

Precognition: The “tattoos” on Wren's skin change to foretell the future. This is a direct consequence of her curse.

Channeling / Spirit Attachment: Wren can channel specific spirits who then attach themselves to her for a short time so that she can use their skills/powers/abilities.

DRAWBACKS

Hypersensitivity: At the onset of a prediction, just as her old tattoos begin to fade, Wren experiences what she calls "The Culling". Though she isn't sure how or why it works, she suspects the curse forces her mind, body and soul to open up to the universe, making her an antenna of sorts, to receive the signals necessary to divine the future. When this happens, she becomes hypersensitive to sounds, tastes, smells, and especially touch, to the point that her wires sometimes get crossed and she becomes synesthesic.

The state usually lasts a few hours to a few days. The longer she remains in this state, the more sensitive she becomes; the more she begins to experience the taste of red or the smell of petting, and then, the more accurate her predictions (there is less metaphor in the images, less guesswork and interpretation).

There are ways to induce the state, but it comes at a desperately high and torturous cost.

Obscurity: When she's lucky, the tattoos send a clear message. Most of the time, she has no idea what the images are trying to tell her, but she acts anyway, impulsively, leading her toward dangerously bad life choices.

Random Spirit Attachment: Though Wren has a permanent connection to several spirits (see list at the end of bio), they're not always close enough to summon (Wren's connection to the spirits is amplified by her juju necklace -- without it, she's less likely to reach one of the more powerful souls). In cases where she can't reach her usual entourage, she can draw on the souls nearest to her. However....

Wren feels the same hypersensitivity during a spirit attachment as she does when her tattoos are about to shift, only amplified by a thousand and for a matter of seconds versus hours or days.

HISTORY
Personality: There is a penetrating, beautiful sadness about Wren. Though intelligent and capable of compassion, she takes a sick and secret pleasure in cruelty, both giving and receiving. On a good day, her temper runs hot. When provoked, her fury knows no bounds. She is a keen negotiator, and like the Devil, she often gets more from a deal than her trading partner is aware.

Though efficient when focused, she is fickle and unpredictable, recklessly impulsive and unreliable, thus earning her the ire of many who have sought prolonged partnership with her in the past. Though she is smugly confident, Wren divulges little of her private life, even with those closest to her.

About Your character: The stories circulating about Wren are colorful. Some say she is a rebel hellcat cursed to roam the Earth in mortal form, others say she is an outcast pirate princess from a mystical, hidden island off the coast of Cuba. Wren's favorite origin story: a enchantress spit out by an everlasting hurricane over the Bermuda Triangle.

She has some skill with magic, and is rumored to have turned men into animals, to enchant objects, to have the power to turn an enemy to sand, even to raise the dead. She is also uncannily adept at curing severe illness and creating potions for invoking or ending romance. For the most part, Wren lives in a trailer filled with oddities and horrors that only the bravest peruse.


Preferred Spirits:

Miyamoto Musashi
When possessed by Musashi, Wren becomes incredibly zen (centered and peaceful). She speaks in slow English, only when she has something to say, and tends toward metaphors. She smells unwashed, and develops semi-severe eczema on her hands, arms and legs. She keeps to herself as much as possible, and can often be found meditating.

Highly skilled and powerful, Musashi is a relatively easy spirit to command: he comes when bid, and leaves when asked. He/she has never lost a fight. Musashi is homosexual.

Special Skills: non-frilly  martial arts, fighting with two-swords (a large sword and a companion sword), brush paintings, wood carving, throwing weapons, meditation.


Olympias (daughter of Apollo, mother of Alexander the Great)
When possessed by Olympias, Wren becomes cunning, arrogant, manipulative and perverse. Her movements become serpentine, slow, fluid and deliberate, her speech seductive. She is also ruthless and bloodthirsty, ready to kill any and all who get in her way. She smells of iris, hyacinth and narcissus.

Olympias is a difficult spirit to command: she comes and goes as she pleases. Olympias is bi-sexual and highly dominant.

Special Skills: snake handling, occult rituals, magic, sabotage.


Flamma
When possessed by Flamma, Wren becomes a boisterous and rowdy attention whore; she will pick a fight with anyone and everyone. Her movements are bullish, grandiose and theatrical. She smells of salt and sand, and deeply enjoys her wine.

Flamma comes when Wren commands, however it is hard to make him leave. Flamma is bisexual, but prefers rough sex with women.

Special Skills: hand-to-hand combat (primarily wrestling), melee weapons (scimitar, longsword, shortsword, etc.), medium range weapons (bow and arrow, spear, etc), a higher tolerance for alcohol.


Mata Hari
When possessed by Mata Hari, Wren becomes wildly free-spirited, flirtatious, extremely promiscuous and openly flaunts her body, moving with the flexible and feline grace of a wild animal. She is deeply sensual, highly erotic, and enjoys the roles of concubine, courtesan and prostitute. She is also expert at collecting information. She smells of honey, nutmeg and freesia.

Mata Hari is an easy spirit who comes and leaves when Wren commands. She will perform with a woman, but prefers to be under thumb of a man.

Special Skills: exotic dancing, courtesan/prostitution, seduction, spycraft.

Melankomas of Caria
When possessed by Melankomas, Wren becomes courageous, self-controlled and lucky beyond belief. She is competitive, highly coordinated and athletic, achieving feats of physical prowess that are near superhuman in their complexity and grace. While inhabited by Melankomas, she smells like grapes.

Melankomas comes and leaves when Wren commands. He is bisexual, but prefers rough sex with men.

Special Skills: boxing, wrestling, overall athleticism, luck.


Galvarino
When possessed by Galvarino, Wren becomes angry, rebellious, fearless and virtually rabid. She will duct tape daggers to her fists so that it looks like her hands are missing, and that a pair of knives are sewn onto her wrists where her hands should be. What she can’t shred with the knives, she will rip apart with her teeth. She doesn’t speak, and smells of chili and feathers.

Galvarino comes with reluctance and leaves with ease. He is asexual, and prefers the company of dogs.

Special Skills: Scraping, some natural command over dogs.


Lozen
When possessed by Lozen, Wren becomes vicious and fiercely stubborn. She prefers to be in nature, and if a bed is available to her, she will sleep outside, so that she can whisper to the leaves and laugh at the wind. She steals for the joy of it, is an expert scout and tracker, loves children, coughs frequently, and smells of leather, horsehair and dew.

Lozen doesn’t like to come when summoned and doesn't like to go when dismissed. She is strictly heterosexual, innocent and naive, but by no stretch of the imagination weak.

Special Skills: herbal medicines, axe-handling, horsemanship, thievery, scouting, talking to the Gods.