Hey!

New to the site (although not RP) and noticed this rather interesting thread, seems most of you already know each other so I hope I'm not intruding with this app, but would love to participate! 

[hider=Beth Buchannan]
Name: Beth (Elizabeth) Buchannan 

Gender: Female

Race/Species: Human

Age: 27

Appearance: Beth has a tall, willowy frame, her hair is usually styled in a bun however reached the small of her back when released, with an auburn – coppery colour, which frames her dark, chocolate brown eyes. Her Celtic heritage has left her with pale skin that tends to burn with the merest hint of sunlight, so Seattle's weather suits her rather fine. Usually only wears minimal makeup and accessories, her most consistent item being a small silver bracelet in the style of intertwining vines. 

Personality: Beth has a upfront, blunt and dry style of speech that leave many thinking she is rather serious or harsh. However she is quite a warm, easy-going personality that is often accompanied by a light quip or two - there is no situation too awkward where she believes a well-timed humorous remark can break the tension. She is often proven wrong in this assumption but refuses to give up.

Sometimes appears to have a questionable morality - however, Beth would consider herself moral enough  but holds herself to a different set of standards than others. As her work contains much in the way of blood, sacrifices of small animals and various other magicks of the more darker nature she is much less perturbed by body parts, death and the more questionable side of the Occult than most. Beth believes, however, that her Coven's rules and teachings of these matters are more complicated and nuanced about such topics and that most people have simply dismissed it all as "creepy."

Methodical by nature, Beth takes her abilities seriously, believing herself to be the inheritor of a rich history of magical lore. She therefore loathes much of the modern or New-Age Wicca and associated movements and those that express such interests usually receive the sharper side of her tongue. 

However, with those that are genuinely interested in her Craft she is eager to share and could talk for hours about the different grades of charcoal you can use for drawing a magic circle and the various effects it has - she has yet to find anyone willing to endure that offer, alas.

A romantic at heart, she is quite eager for a boyfriend and subsequently is much more sociable than one would expect from a Coven witch. She is a frequent of many bars and parties, both paranormal and not, and is known to enjoy her alcohol very much which has resulted in a few fragile mornings in P&H where loud noises and bright sunlight are not her friends. 

Being a relative new foreigner in a different country, she does sometimes view American habits a little funnily or grow wistful for her homeland - however in general enjoys her new country immensely,  feeling it still evokes the sense of wonder and novelty she had always imagined from the movies of the Golden Age of Cinema she adored as a child.

Powers, Traits, and Abilities: 

As the descendent of of the Old Covens, Beth has inherited a legacy of generations of Witches knowledge and is quite the competent Witch. Witchcraft, however, is a tree with many branches, some more twisted than others. Beth's magic is of the old school, of blood and ritual. If you come to her wanting to discuss the healing properties of aquamarine quartz and your [i]Guardian Angel[/i] be prepared to be faced with barely restrained contempt.

Therefore Beth is skilled in the more subtle, darker aspects of the arcane - curse breaking, exorcism, summoning the dead and summoning or forcefully banishing demons. However these require time, preparation and ingredients, some of them not easy or pleasant to get (Eye of newt and toe of frog can be the [i]least[/i] of your worries.)

On the fly, if Beth can cut herself she can work some rudimentary blood magic, however at most it can only give access to some of her lower abilities and even then it can be unpredictable. Due to moving in some unsavoury circles prior to P&H, she does have a rather good amount of contacts amongst the "Other Side", although they may not all necessarily be [i]pleased[/i] to see her.

Outwith the realm of the Occult, however, Beth's talents are limited. She is resourceful and good at utilising the environment and people around her to some advantage, however don't ask her to take down a hit squad or hack into the pentagon - it ain't going to happen.

Often carries a small bag of essentials to her Craft - containing a knife, some chalk, some common herbs and pure sea salt. Allows her to work simple spells on site without the need for going back and forth with everyday ingredients.

Background: 

It was one of [i]those[/i] bars. Most people would walk right past it, nondescript and sandwiched amongst the closed shops and abandoned apartments - that was the point. Its patrons valued their privacy, they weren't here to make chit-chat or for the excellent appetisers, (Apart from the Vampires, few placed sold warm blood these days,) it was the knowledge that they would not be disturbed regardless of the scaliness of their skin, the number of horns they had or their dietary preference.

Beth sat at the bar, nursing a gin and tonic (although the dribble of tonic that had been applied barely qualified it for cocktail status) as she waited for Vince. She watched Lou, the barman, wipe down the work surface of the bar with a rag that, at best, could only be described as[i]marginally[/i] dirtier than whatever mess he was attempting to clean. Still, he made a mean Sidecar and he was never too pushy with the tab, so Beth didn't contemplate it too deeply.

"Hey there," Vince said as he sat down and she gave him a small, half smile as she downed her drink. Vince had been ... well he had been a mistake but she supposed the technical term was her boyfriend a few years ago. She had recently moved to the States and he had been one of the few humans she had met that already knew of the Secret World, a few drinks and some questionable decisions that night had left Beth with a headache and his number. A couple of years later they had broken up - although more accurately she had thrown all his possessions out her window as she screamed a chain of profanities at him. "Looking for a good time?" He teased as he removed his jacket.

"Oh definitely," She said with a small smirk, her Scottish accent still discernible even after all these years here. "However I suppose I'll take to you in the meantime, seeing as you made the trouble to call me."

"How was the Coven in New England?" Vince asked, ordering a drink as he made himself comfortable.

"I lasted a week," Beth replied, staring mournfully at the dregs of her G&T and debating the wisdom of getting another, "However I'm not sure if it was the thought of having to eat another bowl of soya beans or attempt to commune with the Great Earth Mother that eventually drove me off. Hard to say."

"It's been four years, Beth," Vince said, sipping his beer, "You still haven't found a Coven for you, ever thought about heading back home?"

"Constantly," Came her wistful reply, "But once Mags died we had no Elders left. Lilly had just got married, with only me and Mhari left it was dying. I thought coming here I could take some of the Old Ways with me, preserve something of our legacy but ..."

Beth let the sentence die in the air, too disheartened to continue. "Still, better than that Vampire Commune you checked out, huh?" Vince said.

"Definitely less soy beans," Beth laughed.

"Here," Vince said, handing her a card from his jacket pocket, "The reason I called. They approached me a while ago, but it's not my thing Beth. You’re always looking for somewhere where your Coven's magic can be celebrated, it might not be a bad start."

Beth raised her eyebrow, looking down at the smart, well designed business card pushed onto her hand, a firm's name emblazoned on the front:

[b]Priest and Hawthorne Investigations.[/b]


[/hider]