[b]"The cicadas were singing a song. It was a one-noted, one-worded; The words sounded like 'please'. They were singing and singing and singing and the whole world was falling down." -Karen Foxlee[/b]

Name: [i]Glory Grey[/i]

Age: [i]24 years[/i]

Gender: [i]Female[/i]

Species: [i]Human[/i]

Appearance: [i]Thin and pale, with a mane of dark hair, Glory toes the line between interesting and intimidating. She dresses modestly, long skirts and hats with flowers in the brim, embroidered ladies' gloves, but her boots are always dusty and her braid is always coming undone. She wears stockings, but they always seem to have holes in the knees. She has a notable tattoo on the inside of her left forearm, which reads "And so I will go in unto the king, which is not according to the law, and if I perish, I perish. -Esther 4:26." She also has a tattoo of a honeybee on the back of her neck, though this is rarely seen. She is small, but strong. Her trimness is not wan, but possessed of lean muscle. Her face and arms are sun-freckled. Her eyes are a startling green. [/i]

Background: [i]Glory grew up in the swampland of the South, a place of heat, the chorus of insects, river baptisms, and the wide dark leaves of indigo. As a girl she was taught the secrets of healing known, in the South, only to women. She learned the prayers to ease a dying soul into the arms of forever, the prayers to see the future, the prayers to call rain when the earth cracks and nothing grows. She learned the ways of plant-work - which root cures a fever, and which sap conjures visions of angels. She knows that the mandrake wails when pulled from the earth. She can name every moon, and read the embers of a cooking fire. Still, there is more she wants to learn, and the only way to do that is to leave her home, which seems suspended in a lost time, and explore the places that are foreign to her. 

Leaving the home of her mother, who taught her everything she knows, was no easy thing. At the time, she knew very little about life away from home, just what she heard on the news, which seemed to be about a world that was not hers, people who had nothing to do with her. When she left, she tucked paper slips of heirloom seeds between the pages of her Bible. She traveled the country for awhile in an old El Dorado that was probably white once, with her little brown mutt Waylon in the passenger seat. She met all kinds of interesting people, worked Medicine for those in need, and honed her craft.[/i]

Current Life: [i]Glory is now employed at W&R as a receptionist and record keeper/archivist. She often finds herself patching up wounded team members. Her skill in revealing lies and half-truths, and her impeccable memory, are very useful in certain kinds of investigation. She enjoys feeling that she fills a necessary, useful role. Still, she struggles socially because the way that she practices magic is so different from the people around her, and the way that she conducts herself can sometimes seem very dated and reserved. She is doing her best to push past these differences and make friends the only way she knows how: by being aggressively helpful, and by bringing pie to the office.[/i]

Personality: [i]Glory Grey takes pride in her heritage and her humble roots. She wants to learn, but can't stand being talked down to. She's a practical woman, hard working, determined. Back home, when people talked about her, they'd always say "Glory gets by." She can be knocked down, but she never stays down for long. She listens more than she talks, and has a personal policy that gossip can be extremely useful if you hear all of it and spread none of it. She will help someone in need of healing even if she doesn't like them, but she'll still make sure they know she doesn't like them. She isn't afraid to get her hands dirty, but she'll scrub them clean again at the end of the day. There are two things Glory never forgets to do: say her prayers, and write home to Momma. She won't let anybody take advantage of her, but still manages to call people idiot freeloaders in the most polite way you've ever heard. Unless she has to repeat herself. Then things can get nasty.[/i]

Schools of Study: [i]Arcanology, Alchemology[/i]

Specialization: [i]Botany (the study of plants), mycology (the study of fungi, primarily mushrooms), divination, Bibliomancy, healing[/i]

Spells (stubbornly referred to as prayers or blessings):

[u]Blessing of Job:[/u] To Ease Pain
[i]A circle is drawn around the afflicted person, either physically using chalk or salt, or energetically. At the four cardinal points of the circle are placed the following Medicines: Bark of White Willow, Flower of Poppy, Root of Valerian, and Leaf of Wintergreen. Around the perimeter of the circle is written or spoken the words “Deus Meus Adiutor,” meaning “God my helper.” Hands are laid upon the afflicted to assess their pain. One hand remains on the afflicted, and the other holds over the afflicted an open glass vessel, such as a jar. The verse Job 1:21 is used now as an incantation, repeated three times.

“Naked thou camest from thy mother’s womb, and naked thou shalt return. The Lord giveth, and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

This process draws the afflicted person’s pain into the glass vessel, by the Grace of God. After the third repetition of the incantation, the vessel is sealed. It is best to properly dispose of or cleanse the vessel as soon as possible, in such a way that the pain contained within it will be unable to escape and seek out the afflicted again. The vessel may be buried, or filled with salt to neutralize its energetic contents, or cleansed with holy water or aqua lunae.

Praise God.[/i]

[u]Blessing of David:[/u] To Ease the Passing into Death
[i]A circle is again drawn around the afflicted person. Flower of Poppy is scattered around the perimeter of the circle, and the words “Deus Meus Solamen,” God my comfort, are written or spoken. Root of Licorice is burned as incense to purify the soul. Aqua lunae or holy water is used to cleanse the hands and face of the afflicted, to purify the body. A Shepherd’s Cross on a chain or cord is hung around the neck of the afflicted. If one cannot be obtained, the symbol should be drawn on the brow of the afflicted with ash from the burning Root. Hands are laid upon the afflicted to assess their nearness to God’s Kingdom of Eternal Rest. David’s Psalm is recited or read aloud.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of the righteous for His name’s sake.
Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for Thou art with me. 
Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely Goodness and Mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the House of the Lord forever.”

This blessing allows the soul of the afflicted to leave the dying body without unnecessary fear or discomfort. Once the afflicted has gone to God, the body of the deceased should not be left alone until the appropriate final rites have been performed, lest the soul become confused and linger too long near the body, unable to reach the Kingdom.

Praise God.[/i]

[u]Esther's Prayer:[/u] To Reveal the Truth
[i]A low fire is prepared, and a small offering is made. On a clean sheet of paper, the statement or story suspected to be untrue is written. The page is then folded four ways, and the following prayer is spoken aloud:

“Lord our God, Creator of the Universe,
I beseech Thee now to grant me Vision,
The same Vision which allowed Esther to see the fate of her people.
May Your Light reveal the Truth to me now, O God.
Amen.”

The page is then cast into the fire. Once it has been consumed, the live coals are read. A cross will appear. If the cross is upright, the statement or story in question is true; if the cross is upside-down, it is a lie.

Praise God.[/i]

[u]Deborah's Prayer:[/u] To Reveal the Future
[i]A medium for scrying is prepared, a small offering is made, and the following prayer is said aloud:

“Lord our God, Creator of the Universe,
I beseech Thee now to grant me Vision,
The same Vision which allowed Your prophet Deborah to lead an army to victory.
May Your Light reveal the Future to me now, O God.
Amen.”

A scrying performed after the recitation of this prayer will reveal the future.

Praise God.[/i]

[u]Eve's Prayer:[/u] To Reveal the Past
[i]A medium for scrying is prepared, a small offering is made, and the following prayer is said aloud:

“Lord our God, Creator of the Universe,
I beseech Thee now to grant me Vision,
The Vision which is composed of the memory of my ancestor Eve
And her multitude of daughters, the women who came before me.
Somewhere in Time, there was a woman who remembers the moment I now wish to see.
May Your Light reveal her memory to me now, O God,
And may you bless her daughters forevermore.
Amen.”

A scrying performed after the recitation of this prayer will reveal the past.

Praise God.[/i]

[u]Ruth's Prayer:[/u] To Go About Unseen
[i]Sage is burned, and the body cleansed with smoke. A black cloth or scarf is used to cover the head/hair. A small offering is made, and the following prayer is said aloud:

“Lord our God, Creator of the Universe,
I ask that You make me as one who passes in the night,
Concealed beneath the shadow of Your Almighty hand.
Cover me, Lord, in the dust which rises when You touch the earth,
As Ruth was covered in the dust which rose from her path to deliverance.
May I be as a wisp of smoke in the eyes of my enemies, O God,
Steadfastly protected by Your mercy.
Amen.”

This prayer does not make one invisible, per se, but unnoticeable. They blend into their surroundings, and the eye seems to naturally avoid them. They become a shadow.

Praise God.[/i]

Abilities: 

[u]Medicine[/u]
[i]Glory is suitably versed in the use of plants, herbs, fungi, and other natural elements to treat injuries, illnesses, and other such ailments of the body, mind, and spirit. However, her knowledge has its limits. Her experience is provincial, and she is not comfortable working with unfamiliar flora. For example, her herbal healing abilities would not be very useful in California, because she grew up in the South and doesn't know about the plants that are native to California. Fortunately, she does keep a few essentials in her satchel.[/i]

[u]Foraging/Survival Cooking[/u]
[i]Thanks to her knowledge of plants, Glory can find wild food in dire circumstances. She can also make a meal out of just about anything, whether she's stranded in the wilderness, or just doesn't have a whole lot in the fridge on a given day. No matter how meager her supplies may be, Glory gets by. She will never let people go hungry.[/i]

[u]Hand-Sewing[/u]
[i]Need a button sewn back onto a shirt? Got a hole in the seat of your favorite pair of pants? Glory's your girl.[/i]

[u]Scrying/Divination[/u]
[i]Glory is able to "scry," to gain insight and information not normally accessible by other means, using mediums such as curling smoke, moving water, or live glowing coals. She gazes into them and reads the images tat appear. This is useful in many circumstances, especially since it is relatively easy to find a medium for scrying in any setting, but it is not always the most accurate or reliable method for divining the future.[/i]

[u]Recall[/u]
[i]Glory has an impeccable memory for details, especially when it comes to people. This is convenient because she never forgets a birthday or a food allergy, but also extremely useful because it gives her an upper hand in detecting lies, because she can easily spot discrepancies and contradictions in someone's story or behavior. This also makes her a very accurate and efficient record keeper/archivist. You lost a file? Don't worry. Glory probably remembers the whole thing word for word. She'll just type up another copy.[/i]

[u]"Scrappin'"[/u]
[i]Glory dislikes physical confrontation as a rule, because it's unladylike, but that doesn't mean she can't handle herself in a fight if she has to. Growing up on a swamp with a bunch of rowdy boys taught her very early on how to defend herself. Her fighting style, if you can really call it that, mostly involves lots of head-butting and flying elbows. She doesn't have a lot of upper body strength, but her kicks are powerful, and she's not afraid to stick her thumbs in somebody's eyes.[/i]

Equipment:

[i]A Bible. The book, which is a battered King James bound in brown leather, has paper packets of seeds pressed between its pages. Several pages in the back of the book, originally blank, are filled with cures, recipes, prayers, and blessings handwritten in tiny, neat script, along with small sketches and notes identifying different plants. The Bible also contains a few dried, pressed flowers and leaves here and there, and some photographs and letters.[/i]

[i]A satchel. Glory's over-the-shoulder satchel contains a few smoke-blackened, wax-sealed glass jars with mysterious contents, a small bag of doggy biscuits for Waylon, a few good pens, an efficient sewing kit contained in a tea tin, a small pair of gardening scissors, a box of bandages, and other mundane useful items such as a book of stamps, lighter, etc. [/i]

[i]Sourdough starter. Like all her other most treasured, valuable belongings, Glory keeps a mason jar of her grandmother's sourdough starter in the trunk of her El Dorado. It smells... powerful.[/i]

[i]Hunting knife. Mostly useful for hunting back home, but occasionally useful for other thing she feels the need to ask forgiveness for later, even it was self defense.[/i]

Other:[i]Glory does not call herself a witch. If someone asks her if she is a witch, she answers "It's somethin' like that." She won't call the work that she does magic, or spellwork. She insists that she doesn't believe in that sort of thing. She's a woman, that's all, just using the skills passed down to her through the women in her family. Quite stubbornly, she will not hear anything to the contrary.[/i]