WENDY Description: Varies depending on mood, but all of her forms have either smoky black or cloudy white hair & sky-blue or storm-grey eyes, and all are gorgeous but ephemereal. Her fashion sense is... unique. Background: Wendy is a sylph (air elemental) summoned by a mad wizard and bound not to him or a spell, but to magic itself. He then proceeded to take her as an apprentice and teach her. After he was killed, Wendy tried to return to the Air but could not - knowledge of magic had stripped her of the purity elementals require. She was both more and less than her fellow sylphs, and both more and less than human. She wandered for a while and eventually was befriended by Aware, who brought her to The Library where her unique talents could best be used. She's happy there, in a thoroughly nonhuman way. Personality: Like other sentient creatures, Wendy acts differently under changing situations. However, because she's an air elemental, Wendy's moods can be nebulous swinging suddenly and apparently arbitrarily. There *is* a core to Wendy's being, however, and most important to her (after survival, of course) are: a) She wants to be liked, to feel a sense of belonging. but b) She likes to be noticed, to stand out in a crowd. The first of these stems partly from Wendy being an elemental (she and the Air were once One) and partly from Wendy being something of an abused child (she was forced into deeds by her summoner). The latter also stems from her being an elemental (the wind sometimes wants to shake you and make you take notice) and a certain teenage rebelliousness to assert a personality distinct from her summoner, or Shiko, or anyone else. The conflict between these two desires is dominant for a lot of human adolescents, and at first glance, that's what she appears to be. If you had to classify the ways that she acts (which is *certainly* not something that Wendy herself would ever do): 1) First, there is Wendy the Child. She's been in human society for a very short time, and even for someone with a quick mind, she's very naive about a lot of everyday occurences. She really doesn't grasp the concept of money, of work, of "something that you have to do." Life and play are the same for her, and she easily forgets that others have different attitudes, and that they may be forced to live in a way they don't want. This is the persona that Wendy takes when Shiko is explaining something to her, or when she's arguing with someone -- in short, when she's trying to understand human society. 2) Then there is Wendy the Elemental (version 1). She sometimes flies, high to the top of the troposphere, above the noise and smog of human life, her mind soaring, her body floating, far far away ... This is Wendy before she was summoned, learned sorcery, and took on physical form. It's a part of herself that she hasn't yet lost touch with, a certain fundamental innocence that touches all her other actions. 3) Most often she's Wendy the Teenager; this is the loud-giggly, dress-showy, tune-humming personality she takes on when she goes shopping with Shiko. Because she wants to fit in with human society and yet be noticed, when she was first freed she decided from looking at fashion vids that being a pretty young thing was the way to go. And she does get noticed... people stare at her, and she giggles right back. She doesn't really understand sex, which has aspects of all four elements in it, and fortunately she's never come close to having to understand it. Though confident on the outside, she feels a tad uneasy inside, because this really isn't the way she looks, it's the way the model from the latest issue of _Vogue_ looks. Over the years, this media barrage may influence Wendy's looks and outlooks so much that the rest of her personality will drown, and staring at a video screen will be the same as staring at a mirror. She isn't really aware of this danger, and by the time she is, it may be too late. 4) Wendy the Elemental (version 2) wants to fit in not just with the media perception of life, but also with the lifestyles of the glider pilots, other air elementals, and Aware. She's very social, in different ways, with the first two -- the glider pilots get a kick out of soaring with her, and they treat her like a real buddy; while other air elementals express pleasant surprise when they meet her or are summoned by her (Wendy herself doesn't object to people summoning elementals, as long as they're *polite* about it). As for fitting in with Aware, she likes the assassin because Aware freed her. Wendy would never call it gratitude. She likes the way Aware breathes, and when Aware asks her to help on a mission, Aware treats her with respect. That means a lot to Wendy. 5) Wendy as a Sorceror is actually a small part of her personality, but the one that comes into action when the Library is on a mission or when Wendy is in danger of being hurt. In everyday life, Wendy doesn't think of herself as a magician -- more often as a teenager, and sometimes as an elemental. But when she does have to cast spells, she doesn't give it a second thought, it's almost like a natural ability to her. Because she doesn't otherwise think much about magic, Wendy is a bit of a dilettante. Most of her learning was forced upon her by the magician who summoned her. Her memories of this time in this are very vague... if Wendy were a human, you'd say she was suppressing unpleasant memories. But since she's an air elemental, you could also conclude that she simply wasn't cognizant during events of her "birth" and subsequent bondage. 6) Wendy the Elemental (version 3) represents the wild, uncontrolled side of every elemental. If Wendy gets badly hurt in combat or is in danger of being trapped, this unpredictable side kicks in. It's almost an animal reaction -- fight or flight -- and it's hard to say whether she'll rush away screaming or whether she'll start choking the nearest enemy with no regard to her safety -- even air elementals can get violent and nasty. This is the rarest of Wendy's personae. Further notes: Wendy was just another air elemental until a sorceror enslaved her and taught her sorcery. This changed her in a fundamental way--she lost her innocence, her ability to go back to the oneness of Air, and gained an independent personality. Wendy's memories of this are vague; she doesn't yet fully realize what she's had to give up in exchange for consciousness. Aware apparently killed the sorceror. Wendy's got a few of his trinkets. I don't know what Aware said to her to convince her to join the Library. Wendy likes to be the center of attention, and she wants to be liked. Wendy discovered that looking like a pretty young girl got her both of these. But how do sixteen year old girls act? Wendy learned from the glamor vids. It's why she wears a body; she wants to fit in, she doesn't want to be different, yet she wants to be the center of attention. In some ways, she's an air elemental in the body of a 16 year old girl and a 6 year old mentality. Being something of a "newborn," Wendy's personality is strongly influenced by a few sources: the latest fashions; what Shiko, other air elementals, Aware, and the glider pilots believe; and her origin (still to be worked out). So I think she's reluctant to hurt other people; that's *not* what a _Glamour_ model would do, is it? If someone riles her enough, however, and she can't hide or run away, she can raise a ruckus. She's a powerful sorceress, though limited by her nature - she can't do healing spells, for example, no elemental can. Her power's concentrated in Detection spells and air-related spells. When she's using her powers, her hair moves as if in a breeze. She does have a spell which she hasn't mentioned to the rest of Library; Air isn't prone to list-making, and she probably prefers to avoid thinking about it - she may have even forgotten she has it. Air isn't tactically oriented; combat is Fire's area of expertise. Ever seen the way a breeze will pick up a leaf and blow it along for a while playing with it, then drop it and forget about it, then maybe pick it up later as if it were completely new? Her memory is like that. She's as bright as a very bright human, but it doesn't seem that way most of the time, because her thought processes are so different. She's naive about a lot of things; it takes a real effort for her to look at life from a human's perspective, an effort she tends to stop making when under pressure. She'll do things like grouping people by what element they seem to favor and then treating them accordingly. She doesn't consider guns dangerous, because they don't hurt her. She doesn't like confining spaces. She talks in a high-pitched voice, but sometimes uses very esoteric or obscure words. (She read the dictionary one day, and she's trying to make use of the whole thing.) Although she is a magical creature, Wendy isn't opposed to technology; on the contrary, she understands that knives don't hurt her, while rocks do. Still, her comprehension of technology is seriously skewed. Because she's an elemental she doesn't really have the concept of "free will" down: Her mind tends to wander when any sort of detailed plans are being made, and often she'll say at the end of a long discussion, "I'm sorry, I wasn't listening... just tell me what I'm supposed to do." She hangs out with The Library because The Library finds out so many interesting things, because Shiko is so fun to be with, and because of aesthetic appreciation of Aware's balance and voice. Also, Seattle is headquarters for Boeing, and she has a lot of friends among the pilots and engineers there. Sometimes they let her play in the wind tunnel. She has a spell (Change Appearance) which weaves an illusory physical form for her; always female, with cloudy white or smoky black hair and sky-blue eyes, but other details are negotiable. She and Shiko like to shop, though Wendy really doesn't need clothes. Wendy's magic library is all audio recordings since Wendy is illiterate. Her conjuring tomes have lots of her notes linked in; she has a unique perspective on conjuring, having seen both sides of it. One of the drawbacks to being an elemental is that drugs do you no good at all. The only healing Wendy can recieve is magical, and even that is difficult - the healer would probably have to use an air conjuring circle; plus get through her spell defense. Given time and fresh air she heals at the usual rates. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Attitudes towards others: (Basically, in Wendy's mind the Library is divided into two camps: people she understands and people she doesn't.) Aware: Aware treats Wendy with respect, and Wendy likes the way Aware carries herself. Also, Aware freed her from the mage who summoned her. Wendy often thinks of Aware, Shiko, and herself as three sisters in a close family. Because Aware is more independent than Shiko, Wendy's main attitude towards Aware is not friendliness, but respect -- the way that a little sister would act towards her sister who goes to college. Shiko: Shiko is Wendy's main playmate, and Wendy acts towards her much like a younger sister tagging along with an older sister who still lives at home. They love to go shopping together. Shiko is the closest friend that Wendy has. Dunsany (Duncy): Wendy doesn't really understand either Dunsany or Dr. Totoro, so she calls them both by silly names. Whenever she looks at "Duncy," she thinks, "He's made of Fire," and she tends to treat Duncy as she would a fire elemental -- someone who can be useful yet destructive; someone you can talk to, but don't get too close. Dr. Totoro (Dr. Toto): Wendy associates Dr. Totoro with both technology and with Earth. She enjoys teasing him, and she's somewhat aware that he's uncomfortable around her, but she really feels more ambivalent towards him than towards anyone else in the Library. On the whole, she tends to lump him in with Dunsany and Sheen as people she doesn't understand. She doesn't know why Aware and Shiko would want them around, but since they do, they must be "nice." Sheen: Sheen shows more patience towards Wendy than either Dunsany or Dr. Totoro, so he doesn't get a silly nickname. Sometimes the two of them exchange hours of questions, with neither really understanding (or able to understand) the other's mindset. Wendy's comprehension of the Matrix is that it's a place "much like Astral Space," and she thinks of Sheen as some kind of magician working with technology. Elemental Powers: As a Sylph Wendy gets +2 to Grace and Air Magic rolls. Engulf Movement - x6 movement in air (216m/sec) Asphyxiation - Name + Support vs. Name plus lower of Body or Will. Psychokinesis - Name + Magic vs. Name + higher of Grace or Will in a 6m circle. Immunity to Normal Weapons - no benefit vs. Earth, Add 1d10 defending vs. fire/water, 1d10+1d10 vs. anything else. When defending against Air also include the +2 Sylph bonus. May be confined in small containers (but hates it). Can only be healed magically, not medically Vulnerable - Earth