Keisha Ballard
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Nature: | Visionary | Demeanor: | Caregiver | Rank: |
Fostern |
Tribe: | Children of Gaia | Auspice: | Theurge | Breed: | Homid |
Willpower: |
6 |
Gnosis: |
5 |
Rage: |
3 |
Glory: | 1 | Honor: |
0 |
Wisdom: |
5 |
Temp Glory: | 0 | Temp Honor: |
0 |
Temp. Wisdom: |
0 |
ATTRIBUTES
Strength: | 2 | Charisma: | 3 | Perception: | 4 |
Dexterity: | 3 | Manipulation: | 3 | Intelligence: | 4 |
Stamina: | 2 | Appearance | 3 | Wits: | 4 |
ABILITIES | |||||
Alertness: | 3 | Animal Ken: | 1 | Computer: | 0 |
Athletics: | 1 | Crafts: | 0 | Enigmas: | 3 |
Brawl: | 1 | Drive: | 1 | Investigation: | 2 |
Dodge: | 1 | Etiquette: | 2 | Law: | 0 |
Empathy: | 3 | Firearms: | 0 | Linguistics: | 0 |
Expression: | 1 | Leadership: | 2 | Medicine: | 3 |
Intimidation: | 0 | Melee: | 0 | Occult: | 2 |
Primal-Urge: | 1 | Performance: | 0 | Politics: | 0 |
Streetwise: | 0 | Stealth: | 2 | Rituals: | 4 |
Subterfuge: | 2 | Survival: | 2 | Science: | 0 |
Gifts | ||
Persuasion | Mother's Touch | Jam Weapon |
Spirit Speech | Mercy | Calm |
Staredown | Sight From Beyond | |
Rites | ||
Rite of Summoning | Rite of Binding | Rite of the Questing Stone |
Rite of Talisman Dedication | Rite of Cleansing | Last Blessing |
Breath of Gaia | Rite of the Teacher |
BACKGROUNDS | |||||
Pure Breed: | 2 | Resources: | 2 | Rites: | 8 |
Totem: | 1 |
OTHER TRAITS | ||||||
Iskakku | 3 | Instruction: | 1 |
Merits | Flaws |
Ahimsa |
Resources: Keisha has a
small new age shop nestled in a side corner in the East Village. Like her
father's old shop in Pittsburgh, it is called the Goddess Gallery.
SPECIALTIES:
Rituals: Mystic
Perception: Uncanny Instincts
Intelligence: Creative
Wits: Cool-Headed
Breed Forms
Glabro: Strength 4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 4, Appearance 2, Manipulation 1
Crinos: Strength 6, Dexterity 4, Stamina 5, Appearance 0, Manipulation 0
Hispo: Strength 5, Dexterity 5, Stamina 5, Appearance 3, Manipulation 0
Lupus: Strength 3, Dexterity 5, Stamina 4, Appearance 3, Manipulation 0
Description:
The young woman, perhaps in her early to mid-twenties, is mulatto, her skin
a light mocha color. Dark brown hair hangs in dreadlocks to her shoulders,
framing a soft, warm face with a smile on it and intelligence and wit twinkling
behind amber eyes. She’s not especially tall, perhaps a touch over five and a
half feet, and average in weight and proportion. She’s dressed in simple,
natural fiber clothes…loose-fitting, to provide for a feel of utilitarianism to
the girl. A pentacle rests around her neck, four gold earrings in each ear
traveling up the crest, and a small nose stud in her right nostril. In her hand,
an ever-present staff…and on her back, an ever-present backpack. Never known
when you’ve got something that might come in handy in there.
Weapons:
Her Staff (Diff 6, Damage Strength+2B)
Equipment:
Old car
Cell phone
Apartment in the East Village
Iskakku staff
Ritual Tools
History:
All things are of the Goddess. Everything that is, was and will be comes
from Her. Yes, even the bad things. But we'll have time for that later, honey.
Me? I'm Keisha. Keisha Ballard, Cliath Theurge of the Children of Gaia. Still
Water, as the spirits call me. Yes, there's a reason for that name. We'll get
there. If you want to know about me, you have to be patient. All things will
come in time.
To learn about me, I guess it's best if we start at the beginning. My parents
were kin to my Tribe. My dad, Malcolm—or Mal, as he's known—has run a New Age
store since he was about my age. That's 19, in case you're curious. My mom,
Noelle Jackson-Ballard (Dad would never have made her give up her last name) is
a sexual therapist. You've seen Meet the Fockers? You know Barbara Streisand in
that? Yeah. That's not her at ALL. There is, believe it or not, a certain sense
of professionalism to it that Miss Big-Nose didn't quite accurately portray.
Don't ever mention that film around my mother. It won't get pretty.
Anyway, Dad's white, and Mom's African-American. I guess it's a good thing they
were Gaian…most other tribes would look askance at something like that. Tell you
this…I'm pretty damn sure if Dad was a Get kin, I'd have never found my way to
Gaia…in my current form, at least. But luckily, he wasn't, and I did. February
25th, 1987…Pisces by the Western Zodiac, Rabbit by the Chinese. And wolf by
birth. Of course, I didn't know that until later.
That's not to say that mom and dad ever hid the truth of the Goddess from me.
From an early age, I knew that I was part of a larger world. After all, if I
wasn't going to be Full-Blooded, I was still going to be kin, right? They didn't
go really into the meat and potatoes of things when I was young, though…just
started giving me a primer, you could say. I was a kid, after all, and while you
could call the way my parents raised me to be very liberal hippy new-agey, they
knew enough to know that kids can't keep secrets worth a damn. So throughout
grade school and junior high school, I was just the weird kid who didn't say
God, she said Goddess, and wore pentacles and all that. The one that mothers
hated their kids to be around…not that the kids hung around me anyway. They were
too wierded out and uncomfortable…turns out, I'd find out why later. It suited
me fine, though…just meant I had more time for my imagination, which was
prolific. I loved, loved, LOVED to play with my imaginary friends. More often
than not, on the playground, while the other kids were playing wall ball,
four-square, and later basketball, I was in the jungle gym, off on a quest to
save the prince from the claws of the evil demons that had them. Yeah,
popularity was SO not my thing. I didn't care, though. I was content at the
time.
Now, I ask you. What do kids do when they hit their teens? They rebel, right?
Well, what happens when your parents are the poster children for modern
rebellion? The easiest guess is that you go the opposite way, and dress in
blouses and dresses and vote Republican. That…wasn't me. I went to the other end
of the spectrum. With no boundaries, I had nothing to push against, I guess…but
I damn well tried. At 13, I was smoking out, having pretty much constant sex and
getting body piercings in places that made college grads twitch. My parents? No
problem with it. What they DID have a problem with was the number of fights I
was getting in. I was starting to hang with a pretty rough crowd…nasty,
anti-social types. I got suspended from school more times than I can count.
Probably would have been expelled if Mom hadn't been helping the principal deal
with his erectile dysfunction, thus giving her ammo to use for blackmail. And
thus, Keisha Ballard's high school career continued,
My parents, in the meantime, tried talking with me. They tried to explain that
this wasn't the life they wanted for me. I shot back that my life wasn't about
what they wanted. I was just so damn ANGRY at them. My life wasn't theirs. What
the fuck did they expect me to do, live a carbon copy of them? Wasn't happening.
Finally, when I was 16, they sent me away for a summer to stay with a friend of
theirs in Kane in Upstate Pennsylvania. To say the least, I was…absolutely
furious. What, they thought throwing me up into some drum circle or hanging out
with some Amish retards was going to make things better? I went up there
seriously pissed off.
I was SO not expecting Levi.
Levi Sanford…Carries-the-Dead to the spirits. Adren Theurge of the Children of
Gaia. When I got up there, I was sullen and resentful. And here he comes, all
fifty-years of him, dressed like some kind of hiker, complete with his staff. I
started off when he greeted me by blowing a cloud of cigarette smoke into his
face. He responded by smiling, then snatching the cigarette from me and crushing
the cherry between his fingers, saying that smoking was bad for you, and that it
was where the Wyrm spread it's toxins. I had a very vague idea what he was
talking about—Mom was fairly active at the Sept, so I knew we were part of some
sort of weird family thing I wasn't supposed to talk about…and they'd explained
the Triat to me in general terms. I told him to go fuck himself, and he put me
on his ass before I knew he had even moved with a sweep of the legs from his
staff. The wind knocked out of me, I just started up, stunned. Levi smiled and
said that if I wanted to learn to do that, he could teach me.
And that was how he got to me. Iskakku, it's called…the art of staff-fighting
among the Children of Gaia. Okay, so maybe I thought it was weak tea at first.
Bringing a staff to a gun fight? Pretty damn stupid. But he proved that wrong
when he gave me an empty gun and told me to point it at him like I was going to
shoot him. I did…and had to deal with the dislocated wrist for several days.
Slowly, over the course of three months, he used Iskakku and the mindset that it
requires to alter me…change my way of thinking. While he did, he also taught me
the ways of the Garou, and of those who walk the path of Unicorn. It was
surprisingly easy for me to accept…hell, when your parents have been subtly
prepping you for life within the Nation, hearing the truth just seems…right.
I came away from that summer a changed person. My life was no longer
meaningless…I had a place in the world. My rebellious days, I determined to put
behind me, and move forward. Unfortunately, I didn't account for the things that
would lead toward my change. The dreams…the visions. The coming Apocalypse…pain
and fear and death and rage. My junior year of high school was the most trying
time of my life, up to that point. I was trying to avoid the anti-social
behavior I had before, but I was getting angry at the smallest things. I
actually got into MORE fights when I was trying to be good then I did when I was
bad. And Mom's blackmail of Principal Henson would only go so far. In October of
'04, I was expelled from school. Couldn't have come at a better time.
My parents, shockingly, were okay with it. They kept an extra eye on me, but
otherwise, they were entirely supportive. They probably saw the signs. They
called Levi, and he came down. Unfortunately, he wasn't in time. Well, not
quite. He was and he wasn't.
Halloween. I was pretty much restricted to home…but the visions were getting
worse and worse. Things were getting stronger…more vivid. I was determined to go
out and have a good time. So I snuck out and met up with some friends at
Schizophrenia, a nightclub on the Strip. It was supposed to be a good
night…dancing, drinking, having fun. But my mood was getting worse and worse as
the night progressed. I started to hear things. At the time, I thought it was
the drink and the X…not the spirits. I was, of course, wrong.
The key moment came when I was hanging out with my friends, fake ID's firmly in
place, and some drunken ass came up to Kelsey and started hitting on her. She
laughed at him…he backhanded her. I was already on edge…already angry. I grabbed
a bottle off the bar and smacked him across the face. You know, those things
really don't break like they do in the movies. Your cheek bone will break before
the bottle did. Just ask Keith Cunningham. I hit him, and hit him again. Kelsey
and Samantha had to pull me off of him…I was ready, and honestly trying, to kill
him.
I went into the bathroom to get myself together...and that was when it happened.
I stared into the mirror, trying to talk myself into not being crazy, and I
felt…something solid, yet not. Resistance against…something. I didn't
understand. Of course, that might have also been because of the blinding rage I
was feeling, coursing through me. I passed through the Gauntlet as my First
Change overtook me. Slipping sideways is something that's haunted me ever sense.
I don't…remember quite what happened after that. All I know is that when I woke
up the next morning, I was in Levi's pickup truck, and he was driving me back to
Kane. I'd been through my First Change, and my first trip into the spirit world.
Levi had a few more things to explain to me. Numbly, exhaustedly, I nodded.
I spent a year with Levi that time, learning the ins and outs of myself, and of
the Spirits. Levi continued to train me in Iskakku, as well as teach me the ways
of the Umbra, and the spirits. I took to it all…fairly well, I'd say. I also
found myself rather frightened of the anger I'd had…the near beating-to-death of
that idiot frat boy on Halloween scared the shit out of me, and I hadn't even
changed form yet. I became an Ahimsa…an avowed pacifist. Levi didn't disapprove.
My year of fosterage came and went in a blur. Finally, Levi decided I was ready.
He sent me out on a mystery to solve. There had been a problem in the Allegheny
Reservoir…the waterway had been showing signs of problems. He sent me out to
investigate. Nervously, I set out. Investigation of the surroundings revealed
little on the Umbral side. No signs of corruption…no banes, nothing. Well,
nothing worse then what would be anywhere else. I frowned, looking around and
speaking to the local spirits…nothing out of the ordinary.
Finally, I crossed the Gauntlet and decided to take a stab at looking from the
earthly end. Again, on first glance, nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary.
I was confused, thrown off, and a little afraid. Had Levi sent me out on a bogus
Rite of Passage? I laid down to sleep…and that night, I dreamt. Dreams of the
lake, completely solidified, covered in webs, like the Weaver had raped the
spirit of the reservoir and left its residue, holding the waters in place. It
was completely horrifying, and I heard the lake cry out to me with a voice it
didn't have.
I woke up gasping for breath, panting. The dream has shaken me to my core.
Disturbed, I picked up a stone and tossed it into the reservoir…and that's when
it hit me. The stone hit the water and submerged without sound…without ripples.
The water was completely still. I started to take a closer look on the Umbra
side, and what do you know…the webs were there. Faint…hard to see somehow. But
there. Turns out that there had been a slow, subtle infestation of some kind of
Weaver spirit in the water. Didn't find that out until one of them leapt at me
and tried to drag me in. I managed to fight it off and send it into slumber.
When I returned to Levi, I was recognized as a Cliath within the Children of
Gaia.
I returned back to Pittsburgh in December of 2006 and started working at my
dad's occult shop. I made introduction at the Sept. I found a pack, a group of
sisters that I loved and cherished just as much as I fought with them. I found
love, very real and honest love, even if it was forbidden and it turned one of
my packmates into my rival. And that love was taken from me by the Wyrm, by a
Black Spiral Dancer. I've never known Rage like that. I've never felt my
dedication to the path of non-violence be tested so much. I wanted to kill. To
hunt, to destroy. But I bit back my fury, I held true to my path. There are
those who consider me a coward for that. I consider it a strength.
Love and a pack are not the only things that happened, of course. Being the
Alpha of my pack meant that I had to grow up. I couldn't just fuck around, I had
to push myself to grow and become a better force for good within the Nation. I
took on greater responsibility, and I led my pack to Glory, Honor and Wisdom. We
visited realms in the Umbra where we had to kill each other to escape. We faced
down spiritual manifestations of ourselves at our weakest and we held true. We
lived together, we fought together. We brought back a pack sister who had been
killed, and then rescued her soul from the hands of a Reaper spirit. We had our
faults, and we could argue and snipe and fall to distraction with gusto, but
when the chips were down, we were there for each other.
Amidst this, I reached the rank of Fostern. It wasn't an easy challenge; the
Shadow Lord Philodox who I challenged for my rank set me on a challenge to teach
me what it meant to make a decision when life and death were in my hands, and to
show me what happened when one got too focused on one avenue and lose sight of
the rest. The events that the Challenge involved resulted in the death of two
Garou and a Fera and her cubs. It left me known as a Kinslayer among the Fera,
and it stole some of my innocence. But I came out resolved, stronger.
As time passed, my pack began to go their separate ways. Our beta went on a
journey to find herself. Our Galliard found herself with a mate and children,
while our Philodox had her own things going on. I became the Ritemaster of the
Sept, dedicating my time to teaching the next generation. I was only in my early
twenties and already I was passing my knowledge onto the younger members of the
Nation. Between it all, things grew further and further apart. When the pack
dissolved, it was not with a drama-filled explosion as might be expected, but
with a simple understanding. We would always be friends, but the time had come.
I regret that we couldn't make it work, but just like some people make better
friends then lovers, we made better friends that packmates.
Finally, my time as Ritemaster came to an end late last year. An up-and-coming
Theurge, new to the Sept, threw out the challenge. We challenged honorably and I
have no regrets, but in the end he won and I lost. I smiled and congratulated
him, and immediately promised to help him. I could do no less. Gaia has Her ways
and they may be mysterious sometimes, but to fight against them is fruitless.
I love my former Sept. I love those who were there…my family, my friends, even
my enemies. You take the good with the bad. But sometimes, as with my pack, the
time has come to part ways. I needed a new place to find myself, a new city to
find my home. New York is not so far away. I made my farewells, promised that I
was just a phone call away, and I set off. With my old beater car, I headed out
of Pittsburgh, on my way to New York City. Bright lights, big city. My father's
retired, and I've got some money from him to start up a little occult shop. It
won't be much, but it'll give me enough to keep myself fed and in a home. As for
the rest…I'm seeing where it leads me from here.