Characters World of Darkness: Attrition - [Mage] Triessa Elrich

[SalmonMax]

Name: Triessa Elrich

Personal Information:
Public Identity: Triessa Elrich
Nicknames: "Tree"
Real Name: Xenia Anagnos
Occupation: Ecology, 'green' tech and sustainable development consultant/activist
Legal Status: United States Citizen, living in Los Angeles
Marital Status: Umarried
Known Relatives:
Deceased Relatives:

Physical Traits:
Weight: 139 lbs
Height: 5’ 7”
Apparent age: early-twenties
Gender: Female
Ethnic Background: Caucasian
Eye Color: Dark brown
Hair Color: Dark brown
Handedness: Left
Age: 20

Clubs/Organizations: None yet; new to town.

Description

Triessa bears her Greek and Mediterranean heritage very clearly in her features, with light olive skin, and thick eyebrows. She has striking hazel eyes that reflect her moods very clearly, sparkling with mirth when she's happy, or darkening with anger as the case may be. Her short, dark hair is generally clean, but she rarely bothers keeping it combed. She has a trim, fit figure and favors comfortable, loose fitting tops and skirts, or sleeveless shirts and vests and shorts. On her left shoulder she has a small tattoo depicting a sun rising (or setting) over a bit of ocean. She alsohas numerous piercings, but rarely wears much jewelry besides necklaces and bracelets; so-called "noisy accessories."

Background

Xenia counts her Awakening as the moment her life really started. Before that, there was nothing but problems. Problems especially with what an endless series of counselors and therapists called 'impulse control.' She was twitching, always feeling like she wanted to be moving, to be DOING. Even her mind seemed to share in her hyperactivity; she couldn't concentrate on things for very long, though she thought fast. As a child she was diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed medication. They did slow her down, but they also dulled the world.

Her father was a first generation Greek immigrant whose father had come to America and become a fisherman, and had done rather well for himself. With that money, and substantial loans, the family had moved north up the coast to Alaska, to join in the lucrative, but dangerous, crab harvesting. Xenia was used to her father being away for long periods then, and was raised to a great degree by her mother, who is very much the product of the San Franscisco Bay Area during the 60's and 70's. She disapproved of the medications that doctors said Xenia should take, but found that holistic alternatives simply didn't do the job when it came to getting her daughter under control.

With the benefit of hindsight, it's clear to Triessa now that her Mystery Play had started young...and that it had been drawn out to excrutiating lengths because the Sleepers in her life, with all the best intentions for her, had misdiagnosed what was happening to her and used drugs to slow and stop it. On the few occasions she let it go for more than a day or two, there started to be a kind of pattern to the wild swings of mood and thought she suffered. A sense of something else underneath the chaos; an implicit order, like a cloud that looked like a face. But since by that time she was suffering sleep deprivation and hallucinating, she would give in and take the pills again.

Everything changed when her father's ship was lost in a storm. The blow was devastating, not just emotionally but financially. Xenia and her mother were forced to move back to stay with her parents (Xenia's grandparents) in Oakland. Xenia was miserable there. She was used to the big Alaskan sky, and camping under the stars whenever it was warm enough. Not to mention, with money so tight, her medication was much harder to buy in sufficient quantity. Her higher soul, caged for so long, began to rattle the bars.

Finally the decision was made to send Xenia to a school for children with "challenges." A private school in the valley. It was there that she would meet, on the faculty, the mage who would recognize her plight and help her through the difficult steps of unlearning and relearning that would lead her to Awakening.

Becoming a mage didn't instantly solve her problems, but it did give her tools, and goals that she couldn't have had before. She worked hard with her mentor, not just at magic, but at overcoming her weaknesses. Triessa learned to let the wildness of her mind "flow," like a river, without trying to stop it or even really understand it. When it became too fast to follow, she would simply let go and let it course...become a watcher in her own skull. Triessa found that in doing so, she could more easily pick up the train of her thoughts and continue them again. She learned to stick to topics in that way, and the lessening of stress made her a lot more pleasant to be around. And when her body trembled and wanted to run...she learned to RUN and grow stronger. There was wisdom in one's instincts, if one had courage to trust them.

Then, in the true Thyrsus way, when Triessa was ready, she was thrown out on her own again. But being ready made all the difference. She went to school, community college, and she took up political causes and protests...remembering Alaska got her involved with environmentalism. Not everything she learned was doom and gloom either. Humankind seemed to Triessa to be on the verge of both disaster, and opportunity. Technologies were maturing that had the potential to help humanity live WITH nature rather than at the expense of it. More than that, more crucially than that, was the realization that people were THINKING in terms of nature now, that environmentalism wasn't just for wackos anymore. People bought organic food because the towering bastions of pharma-agriculture were tumbling down. The battle for the hearts and minds, once all but lost, was turning back to the Green.

She wanted to be part of that. Impulsively, Triessa decided to move south, along the coast, to the Los Angeles area. LA exemplified the conflict better than most places. A hotbed of pollution and industry, it also housed a growing amount of the 'green movement.' And, of course, it was home to one of the most effective mass communication mediums ever developed. Hollywood.

Instinctively, she felt that LA was a front line in the war for the soul of humanity. Only time would tell how right that instinct was.

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Name: Xenia Anagnos
Shadow Name: Triessa Elrich
Virtue: Hope
Vice: Pride
Gender: Female
Age: 20
Exp: 50

Path: Thyrsus
Order: Free Council
Defense 4
Health 8
Initiative 8
Wisdom 7
Speed 11
Size 5
Willpower 6
Gnosis 3
Mana 12
Mana/Turn 3

Arcana
Life ***
Spirit *
Space **
Matter *
Prime *

Rotes
Supernal Vision (Prime *)
Spirit Tongue (Spirit *)
Detect Substance (Matter *)
Alter Conductivity (Matter *)
Untouchable (Space **)

Attributes: 5/4/3
Strength **
Dexterity ****
Stamina ***

Intelligence **
Wits ****
Resolve **

Presence **
Manipulation **
Composure ****

Skills: 11/7/4
Academics *
Craft **
Investigation **
Medicine *
Occult (Herbs) ***
Science (ecology, botany) **

Athletics **
Brawl **
Drive *
Stealth *
Survival *

Animal Ken *
Empathy *
Subterfuge **

Merits:
High Speech (free)
Resources *
Gnosis +2 *** ***
Striking Looks **
Sanctum * (size *)

Exp Expenditures 50/72
2nd dot Resolve 10xp
2nd dot Stength 10xp
2ns dot Manipulation 10xp
Merit: Striking Looks 4xp
Merit: Sanctum 2xp
1st dot of Matter Arcanum 7xp
1st dot of Prime Arcanum 7xp
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