Animalis
Overview
Quote: "The city is like a forest. Its alleys and buildings, its gutters and sewers are homes to many creatures who cannot speak for themselves."
Animalis has loved animals for as long as she can remember. As a child, she pretended her pets could talk to her and she would put words in their mouths so that she could have long conversations with them. She did the same thing for the animals she saw from time to time outside her apartment in Chicago's downtown - the pigeons that flew from building to building, the mice that always seemed to inhabit the basement and the squirrel that found a few nuts each fall in the trees that grew in the park near her building.
A field trip in high school to the Lincoln Park Zoo provided the occasion for Animalis' Awakening. As she walked with her classmates, the animals she saw gradually took on a deeper reality than the kids she saw at school every day. Suddenly, she was hearing conversations that weren't coming from the people around her but from the animals themselves. She saw a lion gesture with its head to her, telling her to follow it down a path within the lion's habitat. Without a second thought, she did so, and as she followed the lion, she heard more and more of the animal speech. She felt her body changing from one animal to another. Finally, she appeared at a tower deep in the heart of the zoo, but something about it scared her. It stank of humans and their rules and their ideals. The voices within the Watchtower wanted her to use her magic for human goals. She had other ideas, and rejected the invitation to become part of the Watchtower.
She came back to consciousness suddenly when a teacher tapped her on the shoulder and told her not to dawdle any longer at the lions' habitat or she'd be left behind. The "journey" of her Awakening had taken only a few minutes in "real" time.
From that time on, Animalis considered herself a practitioner of natural magic. She had no real teacher, but learned how to use her power through visits with spirit teachers in her dreams.
Eventually, one of the Free Council mages located her and tried to persuade her to join his order. She refused him as gently as she could, and he seemed to accept it, though he warned her that other mages might not take an order or else to burn her magic from her.
When the Free Council mage had finished his warning and turned to leave her, he found himself surrounded by half a dozen large dogs, numerous growling cats and a bevy of pigeons sputtering overhead. He nodded at the demonstration and offered to teach Animalis how to control her power so that she wouldn't draw down the wrath of the other mages.
Since then, Animalis has been regarded as a special case among the mages of Chicago. Since she deals primarily with her own world of animals and doesn't seem to have any political ambitions, she does not seem an overt threat to anyone.
What they fail to see is that Animalis had decided that it is time for animals to reclaim what humanity had taken from them. She is doing her best to communicate with all the pets in Chicago as well as the city fauna - pigeons, rats, squirrels and other creatures. Lately, she has taken to visiting the zoos, and spending hours staring at the habitats of the big cats, the wolves and other predators. To most people, she seems just to stand and admire them. But Animalis is communing with them and as she continues her self-assigned task, the animals grow more and more restless, as if waiting for a signal.
Description
Animalis is young, barely out of her teens. She dresses in simple clothes and avoids leather or other materials that come from dead animals. Her reddish-brown hair is worn in braids or else hangs loosely down her back. She has light green eyes that are usually half-hidden under heavy eyelids. She wears no make-up. She still loves with her family, who wonder at her frequent outings to the zoo but as yet don't think to question her about the trips' purpose.
Her Nimbus is made of fur and feathers. Animal noises accompany vulgar magic.
Stats
Dedicated Magical Tool: 12" length of copper chain
Real Name: Bridget Rose Murphy
Path: Thyrsus
Order: Apostate
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 3, Wits 4, Resolve 4
Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 4, Stamina 2
Social Attributes: Presence 4, Manipulation 2, Composure 3
Mental Skills: Academics 2, Medicine (Veterinary) 2, Occult 3
Physical Skills: Athletics (Climbing) 2, Brawl 1, Drive 2, Stealth 3
Social Skills: Animal Ken (Communication) 5, Empathy 3, Persuasion 3, Streetwise 1
Merits: Danger Sense, Direction Sense, Fleet of Foot, Holistic Awareness, Meditative Mind
Willpower: 7
Wisdom: 5
Virtue: Justice
Vice: Pride
Initiative: 7
Defense: 4
Speed: 11
Health: 7
Gnosis: 2
Arcana: Life 2, Mind 1, Spirit 2
Rotes: Life - Healer's Trance, Heal Flora and Fauna; Mind - Sense Consciousness; Spirit - Spirit Tongue
Manna/per turn: 11/2
Armor: None
Magic Shield: None
References
- CofD: World of Darkness: Chicago, p. 395-396