Spelling Bee
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Justice. J-U-S-T-I-C-E. Justice. | |
| Spelling Bee | |
| Player: @SusieBot | |
| Origin: | Magic |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Controller |
| Security Level: | 8 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Gwyneth Green |
| Known Aliases: | N/A |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 22 |
| Height: | 5' 8" |
| Weight: | 125 lbs |
| Eye Color: | Hazel |
| Hair Color: | Red |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | United States Citizen |
| Occupation: | Student, Licensed Crime-Fighter |
| Place of Birth: | Baltimore, Maryland |
| Base of Operations: | Steel Canyon, Paragon City, RI |
| Marital Status: | None |
| Known Relatives: | Gary Green(Father), Gilda Green(Mother), Gloria Green(Sister) |
| Known Powers | |
| Elemental Magic | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Occult Knowledge | |
| Equipment | |
| None | |
| No additional information available. | |
Contents |
BACKGROUND
Youth. Y-O-U-T-H. Youth.
From an early age, Gwyneth Green harbored a deep-seated and secret dream of becoming a witch. When her elder (by half an hour) sister Gloria wanted to be Dorothy for Halloween, Gwyneth cheerfully volunteered to be the Wicked Witch of the West.
This pattern continued well into high school, with Gloria being the popular, bright, and beautiful sister, while Gwyneth was quiet, introspective, and interested only in transmuting aluminum foil into gold leaf. Gwyeth was neither maladjusted nor tormented; she simply kept to herself, and had interests wildly divergent from those of her peers.
She was, however briefly, a member of a coven during her senior year of high school. The girls were quite successful in summoning a minor imp, but the entire enterprise collapsed when one of this girls found a boyfriend.
Mishap. M-I-S-H-A-P. Mishap.
College was a breath of fresh air to Gwyneth. She travelled to Paragon City University in Salamanca, determined to major in folklore (her post-graduation plans were, needless to say, underdeveloped). Amidst the usual faux-wiccans and assorted weirdos, she discovered a genuine coven of practicing witches on campus (one of several, actually; the Salamanca campus is a bit odd).
Unfortunately for Gwyneth, the coven she selected was actually a cult -- specifically, a young people's outreach program for the Circle of Thorns. The group was on-course to produce several promising shells for displaced Oranbegan souls when the Circle leadership decided to deliver the young people to the Red Caps in exchange for an unknown favor.
The Circle replaced the coven's usual ritual with a spell that banished them all to the spirit world, there to be devoured (eventually) by hungry gnomes. This would have gone perfectly, if not for the timely intervention of Magik Man, a sorcerer and crime-fighter with a great fondness for the rock band "Heart".
When Magik Man arrived on the scene, the young people had been in the Spirit World for quite some time, and most had been devoured. Magik Man was only able to rescue one survivor -- Gwyneth Green.
Hero. H-E-R-O. Hero.
Magik Man had no trouble deprogramming Gwyneth, as her attachment to the coven was fairly well broken by the "sending to another plane to be devoured by gnomes" scheme. However, he did have some trouble getting rid of her -- Gwyneth began skipping classes to stalk him, and begged him to take her on as a student.
Magik Man relented, and took the girl as his apprentice. For several years, he taught her the ancient elemental magics of the Sumerians. He found her a capable, but hardly stellar, student. As he instructed her in the art of sorcery, he taught her the ropes of crime-fighting. How to follow leads. How to question suspects. How to keep your abs tight so you look good in spandex.
In time, Gwyneth selected her super-hero name. Inspired by the bee goddess of ancient Sumeria, and cursed with a fondness for bad puns, she had no choice but to become...the Spelling Bee!
Unfortunately, on her first case alongside her mentor, he was horribly slain when a nether demon of the eighth pit devoured him. Gwyneth was only able to recover his shoe, which she treasures -- she communes often with his spirit by conversing with the shoe, and so has been able to continue her magical study.
PERSONALITY
In marked counter-point to her adolescent angst, Spelling Bee is quite cheerful. She can occasionally lapse into sardonic or sarcastic mode, but she is genuinely please with her current gig as a crime-fighter.
POWERS
Elemental Magic
Spelling Bee has been extensively trained in the elemental magics of ancient Sumeria. The Sumerians developed extensive magical rituals based on the four basic elements (Earth, Water, Fire, Air) in isolation, or in combination. This wisdom has largely been lost to mankind, though a few devoted scholars and occultists have maintained "Librum Magika di Sumeria", an exhaustive catalogue of all remaining Sumerian magical knowledge.
Sumerian magic relies on vocal keys to focus the caster's intent. Most practitioners use ancient Sumerian, Latin, or some invented language to cast spells, so as not to give away their intentions to their foes. Spelling Bee is not quite so clever, and so she spells her current spell out loud. This can be exceedingly irritating during a drawn-out battle.
Spelling Bee's speciality is Fire magic, though she has limited expertise in Water and Air magics (Earth magic eludes her...she can't even transmute dirt into mud). Her spells include:
Ring of Fire: This spell summons a burning ring of fire around its victim. The victim goes down, down, down, as the flames leap higher.
Char: This spell combines Fire and Air to create a cloud of choking soot around the victim. Leaves the victim looking like Dick van Dyke in "Mary Poppins".
Fire Cages: Traps several victims in burning rings of fire. They go down, down...wait, I already used that one.
Gale: Air magics summon a gust of wind that knocks the victims off their feet. Compels the victim to buy an "I got blown by Spelling Bee" T-shirt.
Snow Storm: Air and Water magics combine to create a micro-blizzard around the target.
Garden Gnome
Spelling Bee is often accompanied by her "familiar", a gnome that returned with her from the Spirit World. This gnome serves no other purpose than to irritate her. His name is unpronounceable in human tongues, and so Spelling Bee has taken to calling him "Gnick".
ABILITIES
Occult Knowledge
Spelling Bee has devoted much of her (relatively short) life thus far to the study of arcane arts. She has also seen "The Craft", like, a hundred times. This knowledge gives her the limited ability to understand magical glyphs, decipher texts, counter magic spells, unlock magic chests, parlay with supernatural beasts, and the like.
Spelling Bee also possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of horror movies, the result of a mis-spent youth. She has seen "Sorority House Massacre 4". Twice.
TRIVIA
- I have no explanation for this character. I have always wanted to do a bee-themed super-hero, without being too obvious. I believe this meets those criteria.
- I am not entirely pleased with Spelling Bee's costume. It definitely says "bee", but aside from the pentagram on the chest (which I love), it doesn't really say "wizard". I don't know what to do about that.
