Vital Stats
- Birth Name: Didi Hadley
- Craft Name/Alias: Cinamon Teleute
- Status: Master
- Essence: Primordial
- Paradigm: Creation is Innately Divine and Alive!
- Practice: Shamanism, Medicine Work, and Martial Arts
- Faction: The Nine Traditions
- Tradition/Convention/Craft: Euthanatos (Chakravanti)
- Sect: The Pomegranate Deme
- Place of Origin: London, England, United Kingdom
- Year of Birth: 1926
- Occupation: Chief Medical Examiner, Kern County Coroner
- Apparent Age: Early-20s
- Player/Type: NPC
Appearance
Cinamon "Sin" Teleute typically resembles an average-build, attractive, pale-skinned young goth girl dressed in casual clothes - usually a black top and stretch jeans/pants with black boots. On more formal occasions she favours a black mini-dress, often adorned with a black top hat or beret. During colder or rainy weather she wears a black leather jacket or trench coat. Sin is not actually adverse to wearing other colours on occasion (usually FOR occasions), and wouldn't even specifically identify herself as a goth if asked - it is simply that because of her affiliation to the Vidare Mortem she naturally gravitates towards this style (also, see Other: Legend). Although her style is quirky and may be considered sometimes inappropriate for the social situation, Sleepers never seem to notice. Some wonder if she deliberately does this as some form of test to quickly identified the Awakened and Night-Folk simply by seeing who comments on the appropriateness of her fashion sense.
Sin has grey eyes and her black hair is kept naturally long and often seems slightly unkempt but, on occasion, she styles it up to resemble classic 80s rock hairstyle or cuts it shorter. She has a tattoo marking around her right eye that slightly resembles and is commonly mistaken for (especially with the way she applies her make-up) the Eye of Horus, although she will correct those who point this out by saying it is "The Eye of the Lady of Fate". She always has dark make-up on - principally dark eye shadow/eye-liner and black lipstick, although she occasionally alternates with dark blue, purple or red lipstick.
When she speaks, she enunciates clearly as if each word is carefully thought out before being spoken (which, knowing her, they probably were) and has a notable classic British accent. Despite her goth-like appearance and in contrast to the typical reputation of Euthanatos mages, Sin is often described as having a "comforting smile and warm voice" that sets people at ease.
No matter what she's wearing, Sin is always found wearing a silver ankh on a chain around her neck, The ankh is actually one of her magickal instruments an imbued item, and once belonged to her master - who gave his life to save her by giving her the Ankh. Therefore, it is her most valued possession.
Background
Didi Hadley was different from an early age - she never seemed to stop playing with "imaginary friends"and wanted to help them, as they were often so sad. As she got older she realised it was the dead she could perceive, and her desire to help others (living or dead) led to her coming across a Chakravanti of the Pomegranate Deme who recognised her as a child mage. Soon after, he performed the Disksha on her and took her as his apprentice, whereupon she took the craft name Cinamon Teleute, or "Sin" (a play on the shortened "Cin" meant as an insult by someone who disapproved of her goth-like appearance, which Cinamon found amusing and kept) . She learnt much from her master about Persephonism, the Old Gods, and became an Iatromantis and pankrationist. During her second year of nurse training, in the closing weeks of the Second World War, she undertook an Agama Sojourn with her master and they were caught in the Fifth Great Maelstrom (which mages know as the Avatar Storm). Although the storm should have killed her, her master gave her his Ankh Talisman, which absorbed the destructive effects of the Avatar Storm for long enough for Sin to get to shelter, at the cost of his own life. Whilst struggling to find a safe way to cross the Shroud with the deadly Avatar Storm blowing around her, she was offered both protection from the Maelstrom and her blessing by the Lady of Fate, in return for service helping the dead to Transcend as there would be a great need in the years to come, Lady of Fate's oracular sight foretelling an even greater calamity would befall the Underworld. This proved true in 1999 with the Sixth Great Maelstrom and Transcendence of Charon, Lord of Stygia, as well as the fall of Stygia and the Deathlords; flinging many Wraiths into the Skinlands or as Risen, and with the drive to Transcend greatly increased now that many Wraiths had seen Charon Transcend.
Since she made her agreement with the Lady of Fate, Cinamon has not perceptively aged - although typically only the Awakened (including Night Folk) seem to notice her lack of ageing. A few decades after her pact with the Lady of Fate, during a golden age of women more commonly entering the fields of medicine as doctors rather than nurses, she decided to enrol in the University College London School of Medicine and, eventually, got all the required training to become a Forensic Pathologist and medical examiner for the London Metropolitan Police Force (MET). Sin has survived plagues, injuries and outright fatal incidents, always seemingly coming back... eventually. It can take a while to return from death, depending on the amount of trauma to her body resulting in her death, which she heals at a normal rate for a mortal unless using magick to accelerate the healing. A particularly bad motorcycle accident right at the start of 2012, caused by partying too hard on New Year's Eve and the obviously monumentally-witless decision to drive inebriated, left her quite dead long enough that she eventually resurrected inside of a coffin, well after her own funeral. Having to break out of the coffin, crawl through six feet of earth to a world that had known her to be undeniably dead was not a good experience... Rather than try to somehow amend things to return to her life, and do a lot of explaining to her Chantry about how she came back - she instead saw it as a vagary of fate and a good impetus to start a new era of her life. Having loved movies and comics for a long time, she had always wanted to see California (but never actually getting around to it) and so Sin used much of her remaining connections to get a new legal identity (as Cinamon Teleute), then moved to America for a fresh start. Probably a good thing as she was 86 years old by this stage and, although the Lady of Fate's blessing meant that Sleepers did not notice her lack of aging (nor her "advanced age" as being an issue), the Awakened and Night-Folk (and, especially, agents of the Technocratic Union) did - so a fresh start (or "reboot" as she likes to think of it) was a positive thing overall. She had outlined most of her sleeper friends anyhow and, truthfully, her being more active in the Shadowlands than in the Chantry meant she hadn't really grown close to anyone that she wasn't just as happy to correspond with in the future over email and social media.
It took several years of examinations and further training to get the certification to practice in America - almost like having to go through medical school all over again... but she didn't mind as time had ceased to be a factor for her decades ago, and got there in the end, qualifying to practice Anatomic, Clinical and Forensic Pathology. As part of California's required Residency Match program for medical practitioners, she was assigned residency at and worked at the Medical Examiner's office for the Kern County Sheriff-Coroner in Ashford and found herself quite liking the growing city - especially as it had quite active ghostly activity and interesting (and often feuding) Night-Folk factions. On successfully completing her USMLE's, Sin decided to stay in Ashford and, coincidentally, her training finished just as an opening for a Deputy Medical Examiner for the Coroner's office opened up. She did well in her job and got along well with the Sheriff-Coroner and others in both the Coroner's office as well as the greater Kern County Sheriff's office as a whole. A few years later, Cinamon was also lucky to get appointed as the new Chief Medical Examiner when the present one retired. Although she was able and qualified for the post (especially as she had been a medical examiner for the MET for decades), there were various others competing for the position - either simply deputy medical examiners who had been in the department longer, or those being controlled by Night-Folk - the vampire clans known as the Ventrue and Giovanni were particularly aggressive in attempting to put a puppet in that position and/or exert their influence over the Sheriff-Coroner - but years of keeping the influence of the [generally much older and more powerful] vampires of London out of the MET's forensics department had made her quite capable at keeping these comparatively-younger and less-subtle vampires out of her playhouse, to their chagrin - but they're relentless in their attempts to exert their influence and she knows that, soon, they will attempt to influence or coerce her to do their bidding. She hasn't decided yet if she wants to fight them or try to cooperate with them, and guesses it'll probably be down to "how nicely they ask" - but she's ready for when they come knocking on the morgue's door.
Sleeper Society
Sin is a people person and is aware of the risks of letting sleepers know of the existence of mages (not the least of which is the risk of Paradox) and, as such, tends to act with prudence regarding anything she does or say around sleepers (at least, to a degree). She generally hides her magickal abilities, unless it would benefit the dead - such as helping a ghost or risen transcend by settling its affairs with a loved one or using vulgar magick to send an uncooperative Risen back to the Shadowlands. In these cases, she often pretends to be a psychic/medium or neopagan shaman/priestess (which, truthfully, she is) and carefully and empathically approach her targets. She downplays even this "ability" and asks those she helps not to tell others her "secret" so as to keep a low profile. She typically only uses vulgar magic if there is no other choice.
Persephonism
When she's not at work, Cinamon is a known priestess in the Aquarian Tabernacle Church (ATC), a neopagan and formally-registered Wiccan religion that seeks to bring back the worship of the Old Gods in a modern context. To those she trusts, she admits she finds the ATC to be "misguided and simplistic" - like children playing at being adults, but respects their aims. As she is a Persephonist, their interests align and it is easy for her to use the ATC as a means to make friends and contacts, practice her faith openly. Although she participates in all the local Temple of Persephone's activities and seems a loyal supporter of the Temple's leaders, she secretly runs a small cult of seven women (seven is a symbolic number for mages) who, although still sleepers, are hedge witches and more serious devotees to Sin's version of the faith - a cult within a cult, you might say. With this group, Sin is more open about her beliefs and is known as an Iatromantis (a form of shaman-healer). She leads them on rituals and prayers - which allows her to use ritual high magick with their assistance, making certain types of magic both more likely to succeed as well as being coincidental. Whilst Cinamon touching a sleeper and causing an illness to disappear would be considered vulgar or fake by most sleepers, within this circle none would consider it strange if a ritual calling on Hecate to cure a person's illness, with appropriate ritual chanting and offerings, results in that person recovering soon after. Faith is a powerful thing for belief. Nonetheless, Sin is careful how far she pushes them - she cannot use them to simply perform a quick ritual to simply heal a gunshot wound before their eyes without them innately denying the reality of it... at least, not YET...
Kern Country Coroner
Cinamon works as the recently-appointed Chief Medical Examiner for the Sheriff-Coroner. This means that she is responsible for all the autopsies carried out by the Kern County Coroner's office both in Ashford as well as other areas in Kern County. Whilst she does not have direct control over the pathology departments of every hospital - many of which she's realised are controlled or influenced by vampires who cause pathology reports to be falsified to hide their existence - all unusual deaths come through her and she has the influence to choose to overrule the local hospitals and carry out her own investigations if she so chooses. She typically doesn't do this all the time - no need provoking the vampires needlessly - but when a death has caused a ghost to linger and been covered up by the vampires, she will often cause it to be investigated further to help the dead get resolution and be able to "move on" (transcend). This, she thinks, keeps the vampires on their toes as, from their perspective, they never know when Sin will call them out on a falsified report and when they won't. The vampires know she is a highly skilled pathologist, but they don't (to her knowledge) know she is a mage. Not unless her one vampire ally has spilt the proverbial beans, anyhow. For the autopsies carried out by her Coroner's office, many are done directly by Sin herself, though at least as many are carried out by her deputy medical examiners. But, ultimately, all the reports have to get her signature on them and she is getting good at spotting whenever her deputies have been influenced by Night-Folk and either gets rid of them, breaks the influence or, sometimes, actively employs the influenced deputies as unwitting double-agents.
Personality
Sin is not what most people would expect - at least those who fall for stereotypes. To those capable of actually perceiving the truth of her age and fashion style, she looks like a goth in her late-teens/early twenties, and thus is typically expected to be detached, grim and "dark" - but this couldn't be further from the truth. She says that dealing with and understanding death isn't a reason to be grim and, in fact, NOT fearing death is the only way to truly appreciate life. She believes that the soul is eternal and that "life" is just one stage of its journey, much like death is simply the next stage. She believes that when you die, the soul eventually returns in a new reincarnation and will continue its journey until it achieves true Transcendence (though she will admit to not knowing what exactly that is or how to achieve it - if she did, well, she'd have Transcended wouldn't she?). When pointed out that ghosts are lost souls most often not aware of their existence or state, she simply states that just the living are often also lost, unsure what to do with themselves or the state of existence as the whole. Just as the living need guidance, so do the dead. She knows well the difference between ghosts, shades, wraiths, spectres, ferrymen and other types of spiritual dead (and, to a lesser degree, the physically undead such as vampires, mummies, and the Risen) and knows which require help, and which require a quintessence blast to the face to be sent back to the Labyrinth from which they came.
As such, Sin usually surprises people with her warm and caring personality, friendly nature and (often morbid) sense of humour. She enjoys life, friendship and the pursuit of knowledge. She seeks to understand existence and be a Psychopomp - a spirit guide that can help others transition between their stages of existence; whether whilst alive and going through existential changes - such as that when a loved one is lost - or the transition between life and death, or help those trapped beyond the shroud to transcend and move on to the next stage of their journey, or final destination. Whilst capable of lying, she is notoriously honest and, whilst she has a strong presence that inspires others to trust and believe her, her honesty and forthrightness don't lead to her being good at manipulating others (or try to). She believes others should make their own choices, and endeavours only to provide the guidance for an enlightened decision.
In her free time Sin enjoys reading books, tomes, and comics; having conversations with the living, or the dead; as well as watching movies or documentaries - especially anything that discusses death or mortality. Ever since reading The Sandman vol. 2, #8 (August 1989) Sin has loved the character of Death of the Endless who she relates to in a conceptual kind of way and thinks is really cool (plus, they both have an Ankh, although Sin only likes to take an umbrella with her when it's raining). As such, she has chosen to style herself after this pop-culture icon. This isn't simply a fashion choice - in mage terms, she has created a Legend around herself and her association to this character that has subconscious effects and associations not only with those around her who recognise it but with reality itself. This association allows her to be able to occasionally use the passive, communal belief in this legend to absorb Quintessence or instil items what relate to this legend (such as an umbrella) with Quintessence, turning them into Tass.
Since the early 1950s, Sin has also been a fan of motorcycles. She has nothing against cars - they're useful and can be cool and all - but motorcycles have a special place in her heart. Especially British motorcycles, of which she has been a fan of Norton for many years (she was sorry they have had hard times, and is glad they're back again) and drives a Norton Commando 961 Café Racer which she bought shortly after moving to the United States in 2012. Whilst she isn't into racing, she enjoys using this bike for her daily commute to work (possibly a reason why didn't find a place to reside closer to work) as well as going for journeys on the country roads when the weather's nice.
Other Notes
Wonder: Silver Ankh
Sin wears a silver ankh necklace. The ankh was used in writing and Egyptian art to represent life or "the breath of life" and, as as the Egyptians believed that one's earthly journey was only part of an eternal life, the ankh symbolizes both mortal existence and the afterlife. It is one of the most ancient symbols of Egypt, often seen with the djed and was symbols, carried by a multitude of the Egyptian gods in tomb paintings and inscriptions and worn by Egyptians as an amulet. It is believed that this ankh is that old, and has been passed down through the millennia from masters to their apprentices, and now in Sin's hands.
The ankh is a powerful Talisman that once belonged to her master and has the ability to absorb damage meant for the wearer. When Sin and her master were caught unawares by the Fifth Great Maelstrom in the Underworld caused by the detonation of the nuclear bomb in Hiroshima, they did not have time to reach sufficient cover or use magick to return back across the shrowd. As Sin, then a young disciple, watched the rapidly approaching storm with equal horror and fascination, her master put the ankh over her and told her to continue the Great Work. As the Maelstrom winds tore through them, the ankh protected Sin from the worst of the effects but she would surely have died had her master not cast a spell to transport her to Stygia, where she was able to seek shelter and soon after met the Lady of Fate, with who she made the pact that gave Sin her apparent immortality and blessing.
In addition to being a Talisman, as the ankh is a symbol of life and the old gods, it also serves as a significant instrument which she uses to assist her spellcasting. Through the ankh Sin is able to, under certain conditions, use it to channel her magick and make some otherwise vulgar effects coincidental instead, such as using the ankh prominently in one of her cult's rituals as part of a prayer to Anubis.
Wonder: Eye of Lady of Fate Tattoo
This tattoo is often mistaken for the Eye of Horus, which it resembles to a degree, and Sin will claim that the Eye of Horus (and the Eye of Ra) were based on the Eye of Lady of Fate, which proceeds it but is generally lost to history. Regardless, both are symbols of protection in the afterlife, a ward against evil spirits. This wonder protects Sin from Umbrood (including wraiths and spectres), making it harder for them to take malign actions against her.
Familiar: Kerby
Many mages have a familiar or magickal companion. Sin's is a little more... unusual... than the norm. Most mages with associations to the spheres of Entropy or Spirit frequently have animal familiars associated with death, including birds such as Crows or Ravens. Cats are popular too and even, on occasion, dogs. Sin's companion is both a bygone (a creature from a bygone age) and a familiar and, most of the time, resembles an impressive black Pharaoh Hound - a dog with resemblance and historic association with Anubis, Egyptian Goddess of the Afterlife. Like so much with Sin, this is just a perception for Sleepers. Kerby, as Sin calls him, is in fact a lesser Cerberus - meaning he is not THE legendary Cerberus, but a descendant of. Like his forebear, Kerby is a large hound with three heads and a serpent tail, and whose purpose was to be a guardian of the underworld. Kerby is, like most hounds, an excellent tracker but he also has the ability to sense spirits and death - including sensing areas where the Shroud is weak ("the gates of Hades"), sensing the presence of ghosts, and seemingly sensing the pall of death on those who are close to death (even if they do not know it). As a guardian of the underworld, he is immune to fire, supernaturally resilient to harm and his teeth are capable of harming supernatural beings - although bred against shades, barghests and other creatures of the Underworld, they are equally dangerous against Vampires, Werewolves and other supernatural. As a familiar, he is bonded with Sin and requires a steady feeding of Quintessence (typically in the form of Tass) to maintain the bond and exist in the material realm. Although many familiars are capable of human speech, Kerby cannot, although he does have the normal familiar empathic bond with his mage and is able to communicate with her telepathically (and others, if he so desires, although this is rare). As Kerby's natural form is that of a bygone of legend, his very presence in most reality zones causes Sleeper unbelief, which can be painful to him in most areas and lethal in zones diametrically opposite to his natural - he is only capable of surviving comfortably in primal reality zones. Fortunately, he is able to change his form to represent that of any canine or similar animal, allowing him to take a less-powerful but reality-supporting form. Most of the time, his default is to appear as a majestic specimen of the Pharaoh Hound, but he can as easily become a Great Dane, Doberman, Wolf, Fox or Pug if desired. His physical strength is greatly reduced in these forms comparative to his size. In all forms, he has a tell, he always has an elongated tail (even when taking the shape of a breed of canine renown to not have full tails) that, whilst mostly appropriate for the breed, retains the characteristic of his serpentine tail. That is to say, instead of the relatively limited motion and curling of a canine tail, it is capable of greater flexibility and movement and its actions can seem odd to observers. To most sleeper this is a curious oddity but, to those who know what to look out for, can betray his disguise.
Allegedly, Sin and Kerby are avatar companions - that is, there is a permanent bond-link between Sin's Avatar and Kerby's spiritual essence. Sin has some definite memories of previous lives and incarnations and one of the few constants is the presence of Kerby in each one she recalls - although he is differently named and slightly different in appearance in each. As Kerby shares a part of Sin's avatar, he is reborn and dies when she does, linking their fates until they eventually Transcend (or possibly, if her Avatar meets Oblivion - a fate she fears more than death as she believes this is the Avatar's true death and the only way to break the cycle). In fact, curiously, Kerby has a greater recollection of Sin's past lives and escapades than she does and often guides or suggests things from her past to guide her present. She describes this almost as if Kerby is going "this one time, at band camp..." to her to jog her memory, allowing her to meditate on the fragment of memory for guidance. Because they have been together through centuries, if not millennia of reincarnations, Kerby is fanatically loyal to Sin and any attempt to persuade him to act against her best wishes is ill-advised. At the core, Kerby is a spiritual entity in the form of a bygone legend, given material form by the power and sharing of Sin's Avatar. Even if killed, he would return at some stage - possibly in her next reincarnation, though he may rematerialise in the Low Umbra at some stage and allow her to resummon and rebond with him - a not insignificant feat - within her own lifetime [especially given her longevity].
Magick
Focus
Paradigm: Creation is Innately Divine and Alive!
The world, perhaps even the universe, is a living entity. That entity is either part of Divinity or else is Divinity itself. Gods and monsters exist, as do pain, horror, and death; that’s cool, though, because in the end good things come from all the suffering. Death sustains life, life gives way to death, and the whole thing is a cycle that perpetrates itself in an ultimately beneficial way. Magick flows from an understanding of that cycle and your place in it as an agent of change. Everything, perhaps, has the potential of magick, but most beings never realize it. Best recognized as a common perspective among Verbena, Dreamspeakers, Euthanatoi, Ecstatics, and other grimly affirmative mages, this model stresses pragmatic acceptance mixed with wild joy. Certain takes on Kabbalism gravitate in this direction too, with Creation as the infinite embodiment of ineffable God. Minus the god part, this paradigm has a scientific analog in the Gaia hypothesis, which insists that Earth is a living, vaguely sentient biomass. Certain Progenitors embrace this idea, especially in the 21st century, when that biomass appears to be fighting its human infection. Unlike the Gods and Monsters paradigm, this belief system essentially says that there is a point to the madness if you look at the Big Picture and accept that what we perceive as pain and horror are merely ripples across a larger spectrum of life.
Practice: A blend of Iatromantis, Pankration and Medicus
Sin combines Grecian Iatromantis ("physician-seer" - Hellenic shamanism and ancient medicine), Medicus (western medicine developed since the Roman period) and Pankration (a Hellenic sport and martial art joining boxing and wrestling, often considered one of the first martial arts and the first mixed martial art). This includes elements of Persephonist pagan beliefs, symbology and rituals, as well as ancient, holistic and modern medicine and alchemy (drugs, concoctions & poisons); with influences from Egyptian and Sanskrit teachings from the Chakravanti influence on the Pomegranate Deme. She particularly reveres Persephone (both as Queen of the Underworld and Kore, the Maiden of Spring) and her avatar is that of Makaria, Goddess of Blessed death and daughter of Hades and Persephone - who she believes she is either connected to, or may possibly even have been in a former life. Her practice of Pankration requires elements of Henosis ("unitary consciousness" - Hellenic yoga), cheironomia and anapale (dancing kata-like techniques) and bodywork to attune herself to her Quintessential life force. Her belief is that the mind, body and spirit are all connected and part of the divine - a healthy mind and body (represented chiefly by the spheres of Life and Mind) will follow you into the afterlife (as evidenced by Wraiths) and understanding the inter-relation between those elements and creation (Fate, Prime and Spirit) is key to Transcendence.
Spheres
Sin is an acknowledged Master, although she would usually wave this off with a snort of amusement as she doesn't think of herself that way.. She achieved mastery decades ago in the sphere of Spirit due to her many sojourns to the Underworld and constant actions to aid Wraiths transcend, or dealing with them in the material realm. She is not quite as powerful as a typical Horizon master, however, as she has spent much of her time investigating and assisting the dead instead of focusing on magickal study in a chantry or horizon realm. Her enlightenment level and sphere competence rivals most lower-end masters (especially since the Avatar Storm cut off most of the Horizon Realms and their Masters and Archmages), although she has only achieved mastery in her primary sphere. She understands the fundamentals of patterns - life, the soul, matter, forces and fate - at least sufficiently to be able to perform impressive feats of magick. Although she is not a combat mage (or war wizard as some would call it), she is capable of some offensive and defensive spells when needed - but her true art involves the use of shamanism and medical-related methods and instruments, and subtle-but-powerful magick is more her signature style, focusing predominantly on the sphere of Spirit (her primary); Entropy as secondary; Life, Mind and Prime as tertiary; and then Correspondence, Forces, Matter and Time to lesser degrees of achievement.
Combat Style
As stated, Sin is not a combat mage. At least, not a vulgar one. She is not likely (even if she were capable) to fling fireballs in combat at opponents, but this does not mean she should be underestimated. Against living opponents, she is fully capable of wielding magick to cause spontaneous heart attacks, brain haemorrhages or similar magickal effects that can debilitate or kill mortals with scary efficiency - but this is not what one would expect from her in combat (though it is a common way for her to deliver "The Good Death" to those she determines the time has come to move on). As she is a doctor and generally seems inoffensive, it is easy to forget that she is nearly a century old and since beginning her practice, Pankration has been a major element of this. She is physically in good, above-average shape akin to that of most professional athletes (and with the endurance of a marathon runner mixed martial artist which she is) and rarely needs magick to defend herself, being quite capable of defending herself against most mundane threats without magickal recourse. She is extremely good at grappling, joint locks, throws, punches, kicks and elbow-strikes, and capable of taking blows in the process. She is even capable of performing martial arts moves capable of causing death by striking pressure points and vital strikes, or applying the body's structure against itself to tear muscles, tendons and dislocate or break bones. This can give pause even to supernatural threats such as vampires, who are forces to have to expend vitae and grow weaker to repair crippling damage a "mere mortal" is effectively able to deliver against them. Against more serious, typically supernatural threats, her very combat style is an instrument she can use to channel her magick and she can with ease physically enhance herself to be stronger or faster, grow claws, or deal strikes that cause damage to the very pattern of those she fights, causing aggravated wounds to any opponent. This is typically vulgar magick and has a paradox price to pay, but the dead rarely care about the after-effects of paradox, which Sin is careful and practised at knowing what she can get away with.
Additionally, when deniability or subtlety (magickally) is required, her opponents often find fate itself turning against them. More than one would-be mugger or rapist has found themselves the unlucky victim of an air conditioning condenser unit falling on their head as the rusted joints finally gave way at that moment, or a vehicle losing control because of a system failure or the elements and accidentally striking the threat. It is difficult to defend against an attack that could come from literally anywhere. And a century of practice and many repeat-viewing of the "Final Destination" series of movies have made Sin an expert in unfortunate coincidental ways for people to die suddenly, and often horribly.
All of this ignores the fact that she has a fanatically loyal three-headed dog the size of a small horse, with teeth capable of tearing through metal and concrete with ease. As many discover too late, there is a reason she has been successfully fending off kindred for half a century of her being a medical examiner and refusing to bow to their demands.
Social Style
Sin is cheerful, kind and well-meaning so it is difficult not to get along with her. She dislikes prejudice, close-mindedness and arrogance and these traits in people are likely to rub her the wrong way, and her mannerism will make her displeasure very apparent. As she values prudence, she always tries to think things through and decide the best course of action - and as such she prefers "thinkers" and others who gauge their actions and thoughts over those who act on impulse or take risks in the hope of a pay-off.
Her main ambitions are her own personal enlightenment and to be a psychopomp - aiding the dead achieve their ultimate destination. This means that anyone who respects the dead, treats them well and attempts to aid their journey to Transcendence (ie help resolve their issues and move on) will easily gain her respect, favour and likely friendship. Necromancers who see the dead as "spirit fuel and slaves" to use, abuse and manipulate for their own ends - causing their suffering, corruption, delaying their possibility of transcending, or causing them to meet oblivion will quickly find her becoming a dangerous enemy likely to think it is time the Necromancer meets the Good Death (and hopefully will not be such an asshole in their next incarnation). She is unsure where the kindred fall in the great wheel. Some Euthanatoi and mages believe that kindred have had their avatars shredded and are spiritually dead, simply monsters to be avoided, used or destroyed. Others, however, believe that their avatars are broken but can be mended - if Kindred meet the Good Death, their avatar will resurrect and attempt to repair itself just as mages with shattered avatars have been known to do over the ages. She does not claim to know enough about the kindred to have the answers - but has heard a word Golconda which intrigues her - a mythical state of being vampires are supposedly capable of achieving which allows them to overcome the Curse of Caine - maybe recovering their humanity if that is their intent. From the little she knows, Golconda sounds much like Transcendence and, at the least, sounds like a way for their Avatar to repair itself, allowing them to move on to the next cycle when they eventually meet final death. This is a topic of new interest to her that she would very much like to learn more about - and anyone capable of providing information about this is definitely likely to gain favour or friendship from Sin.
Signature Equipment
- Silver Ankh (Talisman and magickal personalised instrument)
- Black tank top and jeans
- Black Leather 1950s biker jacket
- Glock 27 Subcompact (Kern County Sheriff's Office duty concealed carry firearm for plain clothes and undercover officers)
- Misericorde (stiletto-type dagger)
- 2012 Norton Commando 961 Café Racer.
- Thor Outlaw 38KB (Class A Recreational Vehicle) - Sin is fond of mobile homes (or RVs as they're commonly known in the states) and has lived in one ever since coming to America. Her first RV was a Thor Four Winds Class C that she bought second hand. It served her well and was comfortable enough during her costly years of retraining to be able to practice medicine in America. She has had a long-term rental spot at the Ashford River Run RV Park, site #45. She pays $675/month which includes the site rent, power supply, unlimited WiFi, pet and dump fee. It provides ready access to the river walkway and is considered close enough to a Primal Reality Zone for her familiar to live in without pain (although he still needs to be disguised to prevent Sleepers seeing his true form and causing Paradox). Since becoming a deputy medical examiner she managed to recover her finances enough and in 2019 upgraded her second-hand Class C Four Winds to a Class A Thor Outlaw. Although she could have gone for a more spacious model, the 38KB model she chose has a garage section. When driving (or needed) this is a convenient place to safely store her Norton motorcycle. And whilst the RV is parked long-term, the space is reconfigured to serve as a small but comfortable sanctum for her to perform magick. It is too small to carry out rituals with her Coterie and so does not provide any benefit as regards making ritual magick easier to perform, but the privacy and use of warding magicks and painstaking preparation has made it a zone where she can practice magick without real concern for paradox, making vulgar magick coincidental in this small space. (More info: File:Thor Outlaw.pdf)
Signature Quotes
- "Death isn't just a word to me - it's Genesis."
- "One thing I've learned: you can know anything, it's all there, you just have to find it."
- "For some folks death is release, and for others death is an abomination, a terrible thing. But in the end, it's there for all of them."
Gallery
Kerby (natural)
Kerby (disguised)