Character Name/Clan/Covenant
Phoebe Deegan
Mekhet
Circle of the Crone

Who You Were
Phoebe Deegan was the eldest daughter in a family of five who'd been born in Detroit just as the automobile industry was starting to decentralize away from the city. She was an optimistic, carefree girl, at least until the factory where her father had been employed shut down due to damages in the 1967 riots. She still remained an optimist, though, so she tried to find something new to help revive the city's manufacturing center. She gave up on college education for her efforts, which meant more money to put her brothers, John and Tyler, through higher education. A solution presented itself four years later, though, in the form of the Intel 4004 microprocessor, and Phoebe looked into ways she could bring computer manufacturing to Detroit.

Why They Took You
Unfortunately, Phoebe's efforts were derailed rather splendidly as her efforts drew the attention of David Langley, a far-minded Mekhet information broker of respectable standing in the First Estate. He too, saw the potential of such technology to be of use to the city's progress, and judged Phoebe to be the local expert on the field. As such, he presented her with an opportunity to become a ghoul, in exchange for serving his interests. Since he seemed to want to see the city thrive as much as she did, she accepted.

David Langley had lied about his intentions to see the city prosper, he just wanted someone who could understand the new technology at his beck and call. He'd lied to Phoebe, he'd lied to himself, but most importantly he'd lied to his coterie. His peers were of a stricter mind regarding the sanctity of the Masquerade, in that they did not believe that ghouls should be made aware. Upon discovering the existence of nature of Phoebe Deegan, Langley's coterie presented an ultimatum: Either she be Embraced as his childer, or as his replacement. Langley, wisely, chose the former option.

Step 4:  How You Survived (Scholar Masque)
Regrettably, Mr. Langley was a less than ideal sire, being somewhat negligent in his obligation to the Second Tradition. Luckily for Phoebe, one of the other members of his coterie was willing to mentor her, provided she was willing to forsake her sire's covenant in favor of that of her adopting mentor. Although wary of the Circle of the Crone, Phoebe had a weakness in the form of curiosity about the unknown, and Cruac was particularly curious. As such, Phoebe learned the ways of Kindred from an Arabic Taifa who called himself Jean E. Fright. The name was obviously fake, but Phoebe liked the joke.

Under Jean's tutelage, Phoebe was indoctrinated into a sect of the Acolytes that followed what they referred to as "agnostic shamanism," which would consult the spirits for answers to the mysteries of their dark world. It was through learning to communicate with this spirits through ritual magic that Phoebe discovered that the spirits of the city were at least as irritable over Detroit's decline as she was, due to a loss of power that resulted from it. Phoebe jumped on the opportunity she saw, and would regularly communicate with spirits to try to get them to aid her efforts.

Phoebe didn't neglect her mortal interests, though. She still believed that the quickest, best way to restore Detroit was to bring a new industry to the city, and computers seemed like the best bet. Eventually it became apparent that that wasn't an option, but computers were rapidly growing more pervasive, so Phoebe built up and around that foundation of knowledge to create the skillset that she'd wield to pursue her goals along other avenues. Understandably, this all went to shit when the rest of her coterie either succumbed to Final Death or fled the city when the Carthians seized power.

Step 5:  Who You Are Now (Jester Dirge)
In the wake of the Carthian uprising, Phoebe found shelter with a couple of similarly detached members of the First Estate. On one hand, their personalities mixed like oil in water, as the decades had done nothing to dull Phoebe's chipper personality and optimistic outlook. On the other hand, they all had a similarly optimistic goal of restoring the city, and to that end differences could be set aside for the greater good.

Phoebe isn't a relentless crusader, though. Alright, she is, but she doesn't have a stick up her ass about it. In the decades since her Embrace, Phoebe has adopted the mannerisms and attitude of the public perception of hackers: Irreverent, casual, and with a notably wicked sense of humor. She spares the guys in her coterie from the worst of it since they're among the few Kindred with something resembling a brain, but not even they are completely safe from the odd wisecrack.

She makes time for the little things: Faceless friends in the hacker community, reading up on the latest innovations in computer science and music, cashing in on various business investments... and family. Her younger brothers have both married and had children since her Embrace. Tyler's a grandfather now, although the proud parents were among the many to leave the city for greener pastures. She watches them, through social media, and is careful not to connect her name to any of her online aliases on account of that.

Step 6:  What You Will Become
In practice, Phoebe advances the efforts of her coterie through covert means. Her knowledge of computers, her connections with the city's spirits, and the gifts of her clan provide her with unprecedented ease in ferreting out secrets being kept by the people of the city. Phoebe is all to happy to put those skills to use, either safeguarding the efforts to improve the city and the people who back them or finding and anonymously exposing the secrets of the people who she considers to be "part of the problem."

Restoring the city is a means to an end, though, and just because it's an important means doesn't mean she's going to neglect cashing in on the payoff as she goes. As her coterie advances its efforts to uplift the city through various avenues, Phoebe also pursues to uplift herself by blending technological savvy with occult ritual. What strides she makes toward such ends, not even her coterie fully understands, as she guards the secrets of the Circle well enough, but those who ignore her can't ignore the sense of accomplishment that surrounds her.

Mortal Aspiration: The anniversary of Mom's death is coming up. Should visit her grave.
Kindred Aspiration: Come up with a new project for the coterie to tackle.
Long Term Aspiration: Invent a new Cruac ritual.

Step 7: Personal Description
It's the little things, in the end, that draw the eye. She's a bit taller than average, but if it weren't for that you'd have a hard time seeing the young woman as anything other than a teenager. That, and a clean complexion. There's nothing odd about wearing a jean jacket over a black hoodie, especially in Detroit's climate. A bit odd she hasn't pulled the hood up over that mess of black hair, but if she were cold she'd have more color in her cheeks. Her head bounces to a pulsing rhythm, and from the faint sound that escapes her ear buds it sounds as though she's a fan of rock and roll. Judging by how her eyes comb over the text on her smart phone, though, the music doesn't have the focus of her attention. She's chewing something, and after a few seconds it's seen to be bubblegum.

Taken apart, there's nothing remarkable, but taken together the young woman becomes an oddity. An oddity that, judging by her shifting gaze and her knowing smile, has caught you staring.

Phoebe isn't like most Kindred. Where many Kindred are jaded, she remains an optimist. Where many Kindred are cautious, excitement and curiosity drive Phoebe forward. Where most Kindred are serious, Phoebe looks at what all the fuss is about and quietly chuckles to herself, since everyone's being so silly. Yeah, she's dead, and that's certainly weird, but it's no reason to give up on all joy in her existence.

Step A:  What More Is There
Phoebe's father, Jacob, and her mother, Jane, are both dead. Her mom's death was quick enough to catch her off guard, but dad was slow and senile enough that she was able to visit him in the hospice center without a Masquerade breach coming of it.

She has two younger brothers, Tyler who was born in 1954, and John who was born in 1957. Both still live in the city, with Tyler being a retired firefighter (he was 13 during the 1967 riots, after all) and John being a union man who refuses to quit, despite his age. Both are married, having gotten into their relationships relatively later than most couples. John is happier with Miranda (an elementary teacher with way too much patience) than Tyler is with Helen (a secretary who's more than a little overbearing,) for reasons evident in their personalities.

Tyler and Helen have had three kids. The oldest is Donny, who married a girl he met in college named Karly, split town for a marketing job in greener pastures, and recently became the father of a pair of twins, Jessica and Vanessa. Second down the line is a daughter, Phoebe, who recently stopped waffling over which college degree to pursue after a suggestion from an online comment showed her the potential in computer programming. Finally, there's recent high school graduate Eve, who Tyler and Phoebe the elder both suspect of being the child of an affair, due to her having blonde hair uncharacteristic of Deegans.

John and Miranda had two sons, both boys, both high school graduates that didn't bother with college. The older of the two, Garth, decided to follow in his father's footsteps in pursuing union work, and a couple months ago married the daughter of one of his father's coworkers, Tammy. The younger brother, Carl, does the muscled sort of security work at one of the nightclubs favored by one Lucien Blackthorn.

Step B: Ringtones, Because Why Not?
The ringtones listed below draw from the choruses of the listed songs.

Default: Bastille's Pompeii
Mimi Vue: Joan Jett's Bad Reputation
Doug Hood: Carly Simon's Your So Vain
Danny Cook: Andy Williams' Danny Boy
Luccia Cole: Icon for Hire's Make a Move
Emily Carter: Flight of the Bumblebee on Piano
Vo: Disturbed's Indestructible
Kui Heng: Thousand Foot Krunch's Move
Spider: Itsy Bitsy Spider
Kim King: Queen's Don't Stop Me Now
Lance Trang: Fall Out Boy's Light 'Em Up
Jean E. Fright: My Chemical Romance's Black Parade
Paul Olkowski: Jen Titus's Oh Death
Esdee Harmond: Inner Circle's Bad Boys
Michael Warguard: Queen's Princes of the Universe
Russell Harlow: Carly Simon's Your So Vain
Calvin Moore: Carly Simon's Your So Vain