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Foci
Life: bodily fluids, the order of her preference being: menstrual blood and cervical fluid, regular blood or tears,
and lastly anything from spit to body oils (She carries around a knife and some gauze pads for procuring and storing said
fluids, when needed)
Prime: a black clay and silver painted pentacle on a beaded necklace
Forces: various herbs (and other things) in film canisters - oak leaves for Earth, white sagebrush for Air, cedar wood
for Fire, and water (sometimes mixed with tears) for Water
Mind: sticks of incense (she carries around matches to light them with), or cigarettes, for when she's being stealthy
Entropy: a pair of spotted six-sided die, one red, and one green
Paradigm
Magick is the energy, the life-force, the power behind the world, of the Universe, of the Gods. Aidan taps into this power
through an ability deep inside her. She believes everyone has the potential to use this ability, but that some people's potential
is greater than others'.
She believes that all Magick is in some way related to the Elements (see the below list for her relations). Some Magicks may
involve multiple Elements, but they all draw on the power of at least one of them. She also believes that most people have
an affinity with two or three Elements and therefore are particularly good at certain Spheres.
She believes that she has the greatest affinity with Fire, Spirit and Air, in that order, and that she is slightly stronger
in Earth than in Water. While she is still able to use Earth- and Water-related Spheres, she feels that (for now, at least),
her ability to use them is limited. Also, she feels she must learn the Spheres in a certain order, for example, she will learn
Entropy before Matter, to give her practice working with Earth combined with her strongest element before tackling Earth alone.
Below is a list of the Spheres and the elements Aidan associates them with, in the order in which she can learn them.
Learning a new Sphere, especially one with a new element, requires that she work with more than just the Sphere. When she
works with Earth, she is bringing Earth into more balance in her life, bringing more Earth qualities into her life and her
world-view. (More patience, more strength, etc.)
Life: Fire
Prime: Spirit
Forces: Spirit
Mind: Air
Entropy: Fire & Earth
Time: Air & Earth
Matter: Earth
Correspondence: Air & Water
Spirit: Water
She needs her Foci because they help her concentrate. They help her focus, and some amount of focus is required to channel
the raw energy of the Universe. She knows that one day, when she is powerful enough, she will no longer need objects to help
her focus. However, she also knows she's not there yet.
Names
Aidan has three names.
Her legal name is Aidan Bradley. She gives this name to most people she meets. (Aidan is an Irish name, meaning fire)
The name she uses for Magick as well as Pagan gatherings is Sulla Phoenix-fire, the name she chose during her Awakening ritual.
Sulla is a Celtic sun-goddess. She gives this name to Pagans, all Verbena, on principal, and to the Ecstasy Cultists and Dreamspeakers
and Hollow Ones she is friends with, and very occasionally, to Mages of other traditions she is especially close with.
Sunburst is her Shadow Name. Aidan has given her Shadow Name to only one other person, Julia Fletcher (shortly after she offered
her protection), because she believes that her Shadow Name is her truest name, and that to know it gives someone power over
her. She believes that everyone has a Shadow Name, whether they see it that way or not.
The Powers of the Shadow Name
Knowing Aidan's Shadow Name gives a person the ability to find her. If someone were to call her Shadow Name while Aidan was
wandering around with no particular destination, she would be drawn to that person. Otherwise, that person could follow their
intuitions to Aidan. (In other words, it's not quite like following a Life trail, it's more like a Correspondance-Entropy-Life
rote, enabling the person incredible luck in finding Aidan)
Knowing Aidan's Shadow Name also enables a person to control her, like Mind control. If it is a person she does not trust,
or they are asking her something obviously dangerous to herself (or people who are really important to her, like Julia or
Darcy), or something she would be morally opposed to (killing someone for no reason, molesting children, drowning cats, getting
married, etc.), she can will herself to not do it (Willpower roll, varying difficulty depending on who it is and what they
want her to do).
The way the mind control works is that someone says something like, "Sunburst, I think you should ... ", and she soon believes
that it was her idea.
Aidan is instinctively aware of these properties of her Name the way that most people are instinctively aware of how to breathe.
She understands some of it, but is sure there is more that she does not yet understand. She gave the Name to Julia for its
finding properties, and told Julia about that and nothing else.
Avatar
 The idea that fills Aidan’s mind when she sees her Avatar is Blaize, and that is what Aidan calls her. Aidan always
sees Blaize as a naked woman standing in a bright light or sometimes flames, sometimes with wings and sometimes not, with
flames in her hair and eyes the color of live coals. Blaize never speaks.
Usually, Blaize appears in Aidan’s dreams. These dreams tend to be visions of amazing clarity in which Blaize appears,
looking at Aidan. There is always heat and the smell of fire in these dreams, which Aidan remembers vividly. When Aidan wakes,
she is left with the impression of the message Blaize came to give.
For example, when Aidan decided to move to San Francisco, she had a dream of Blaize and awoke feeling that moving to San Francisco
was a good thing to do.
When Aidan is about to permanently fuck up her life, she has a dream of Blaize that leaves her with a very clear feeling of
what the best path to take would be. In less extreme cases, Aidan merely wakes up with a good feeling about whatever decision
she is about to make or course of action she is about to take.
Occasionally, Blaize will appear to Aidan when she is awake. This usually occurs in the form of the heat and the smell of
fire, although occasionally Aidan will see Blaize as well; however this is usually reserved for extreme cases.
Aidan sees Blaize as a sort of guardian spirit, or personal god (maybe somewhat like Kassandra and Papa Ghede?); someone who
cares about her, knows her intimately and is immensely powerful.
Blaize treats Aidan mostly like a sister or cousin, sometimes like a daughter, and occasionally like a stern and distant deity,
depending on what Aidan needs at the moment. Her usual method of teaching Aidan is to give her an idea of paths that will
lead to freedom and Ascension, in dreams. If this fails, Blaize will take a stronger course of action; the more times it fails
to make an impression on Aidan, the more Blaize does to get her attention, only rarely scaring the shit out of her.
Blaize desires Ascension and freedom. For the most part, she sees the two as the same thing, but does place Ascension higher
than freedom. She gives Aidan a curiosity to learn about everything and a serious craving for freedom. Blaize has a tendency
to react strongly to anything that inhibits either Ascension or freedom.
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