Gemma Calabrian

La Drolleriste de Marseille
Dream Lord of the Sandmen
Ferrywoman of the Cocytean Deliverance
The Dream Master of the Mao'lung Fragments

Description


Height: 5'8"
Weight: 132 lb.
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Eyes: Black
Hair: Long simple brown
Clothing: White primitive (gossamer rags)
Comportment/Cadence: Welcoming
Distinctions: Easy smile on pale and almost translucent lips
Supernatural Qualities: Jet-black eyes (Argos mark), clad only in gossamer rags that barely conceal her body (Phantasm mark), a dappling of light and shadow criss-cross just the right side of her body as if caught in a striation of afternoon sunlight (Embody marks), a billowing cloud of deathly musk follows and surrounds her
Accoutrements: May carry a heavy wooden oar, a short sword (gladius) made of dull iron-like metal, and/or a small bowl made of the same kind of metal; Sand usually spills from her gesturing palms
Traits: Appearance 4 (gorgeous); Echoes (3)

~The Pageantry welcomes all those who bring heart and soul.~ (The words are heard in your head while she merely smiles distantly.)

History


Date of Birth: February 29th, 1327
Home: Marseille, Provence, France
Family: Hubert and Wivin Calabrian (parents), Cyric (older brother)
Death: Personal Tragedy (died from the Black Plague, regretted the merchant life that postponed her art patronage too long)
Mentor: Bruno Lock
The Test: Trial by Knowledge (very simply had to demonstrate her understanding of and obedience to the Dictum Mortuus)
Comrades: Bruno Lock; Appius; Maxence Donnet
Key Event #1: Awe & Wonder (after her Reaping, felt lost and aimless, and so glomed onto the Hierarchy and the Anacreon of Marseille, Bruno Lock)
Key Event #2: Treachery (cut her teeth as the anacreon's provocateur and spy as the Restless community rumbled with discord and dissent)
Key Event #3: Personal Tragedy (she and a number of other Stygian citizens, even the anacreon, were grabbed en masse by a horde of spectres to be "sacrificed" to Oblivion, and were dragged down to the Labyrinth where all suffered terrible Harrowings where failure meant total annihilation)
Key Event #4: Awe & Wonder (survived her Harrowing but still trapped in Labyrinth; saved by a Ferryman, Appius, whom she then dedicated her afterlife to serving and learning from)
Key Event #5: Awe & Wonder (but her Harrowing also gave her insight into a different life wherein she could relive her art and express her true spirit, which Appius perceived and released her from the life oath after a long period of service helping him save Enfants and others)
Key Event #6: War (while serving Appius, Bruno did return, but as a Doppelganger bent on stalking and finishing off all the "survivors" of that assault, slaying them all by subduing them and offering them to waiting, ravenous Shades; she defeated Bruno singlehandedly in combat by draining him of all Pathos and letting the Shades mistakenly tear him apart instead)
Key Event #7: Awe & Wonder (having defended a wraith in the process, that ghost was Maxence Donnet, a Sandman, who introduced her to the Guild and gave her the means to realize her dark yet true vision of herself, and so dreams became the artist's canvas and she parted from Appius)
Key Event #8: Awe & Wonder (she demonstrated a real knack for Phantasm and both understanding and tantalizing the Quick especially, as if she grasped every shifting zeitgeist intuitively, and became famous in the Underworld not only for her beauty and gallantry but her proud dream signature, like an artist's autograph: the exotic wiry (Chinese) dragon she saw while in that Labyrinth Harrowing)
Key Event #9: Treachery (she became so well-respected and beloved in the necropolis of Marseille that she was able to broker peace between the Guilds and Stygia throughout the region of southern France, eclipsing her mentor and all others)
Key Event #10: War (spectres wormed back into Marseille, led by the same Nephwrack, known as Voorak, who orchestrated that first attack all those centuries before; Gemma vanquished them forever by seeking out and daring to infiltrate that Nephwrack's dreams, managing to convert him back from his Shadow to his Psyche, ending the threat)
Key Event #11: Awe & Wonder (her innate mastery of the dream-arts came quickly, yet she remained both modest and unflagging, and combined with ending the spectre threat, earned the Gaunt the title of Dream Lord)
Key Event #12: Awe & Wonder (despite her diplomacy, Stygia grew harsher and less generous, so she led her local Guildmates across the Tempest to the New World, setting up in New Orleans as one of the preeminent leaders of that fledgling necropolis)
Key Event #13: Awe & Wonder (during 20th-century, she perceived dangers and urged her local allies and Guild to keep their heads down while the wars terrorized the Skinlands, Maelstroms blew up, and the dreams of many were crushed by despair; spent many years soothing key mortals in their sleep while protecting her fellow wraiths)
Transition: Shift in Purpose (her own dreams became more and more about that strange dragon she saw in that Labyrinth Harrowing so long ago, so she began to investigate connections beyond the Underworld)

The Shadow


Appearance: Authoritative (close to her father, like an uncle she never had -- plump but clever, shrewd and insightful, creative but only for original swindles)
Trigger: Whenever opportunity to negotiate and obtain a lopsided deal in her favor arrives

Artifacts


Ferryman's Oar
Appearance: A large wooden boat oar made of some sort of black wood like ebony
Origin: Gift
Effects: Make all uses of Argos-based transportation easier, safer, and faster
Activation: She must drive the butt of the oar into the ground

Relics


Mirror of Memory
Appearance: A small bowl made of dull-gray iron-like metal engraved with esoteric symbols
Origin: Gift
Effects: Review any dreams of her own or those she has influenced from the past
Activation: Fill the bowl with a small amount of her own "blood"

Sand
Appearance: Shimmering particles kept in a small pouch
Origin: Creation
Effects: Ease Phantasm usage
Activation: Sprinkle on sleeping subject's head (she keeps a limited number of pinches: 5)

Stygian Sword
Appearance: A short sword of Roman antiquity, forged of a dull gray iron-like metal
Origin: Gift

The Attic Adytum (Haunt)


Location: Buckner Mansion, Garden District, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Structure: Attic
Stock: Unusually fragile and gossamer "cobwebs", many urns of all shapes and sizes filled with dreamers' Sand rather than human ashes
Traits: Haunt 3

Significant Others


Names: Jade, 2012; Esperanza Garcia, 2012; Kanika Tauaw, 2012; Amaya Lamb, 2012; Alixel Xaqab'ic, 2012; Nekoko, 2012; Ric Carver, 2012
Nature: Companionship

Explore the Mao’lung here.

The Mao'lung Fragments


Amaya..... Esperanza


Kanika..... Alixel


Jade..... Nekoko


Ric

Weakness
Dream Whisperer


Gemma has mastered the dream-arts. She can influence the world of the living and dead in profound ways, either through the subtlest of touches that sets off a chain of events, or directly influencing important people even as they sleep. She is the ultimate whisperer. But dreams are a two-way street, and she in turn can be influenced, led astray, or worse.

Likelihood of Corruption


Low.

Most wraiths have enough to worry about with their own Shadows constantly oozing through their brains. Gemma has developed quite a strong will against it over the centuries. But she often finds herself entangled with truly dark forces that can threaten the very soul, especially when all one has left is the soul.

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