The Cast

Age 16, homeless runaway gutterpunk, unwitting Slayer (Hero).

Jules has always had these strange feelings about certain people and certain places. She's just had an instinct that she should avoid them, but she never knew why. She'd know, for example, not to crash in a particular squat or party with a particular person, just by looking at them.

Then, on May 19, 2003, something happened. She felt different, better, more confident. Her senses became more acute. Her reflexes sharpened. Her strength increased. She had no idea why. Also, those people and places were no longer things to avoid, they were targets. Deep inside, she felt an instinct to seek out the people and places she once avoided and.. and.. she wasn't sure.

One night at the end of May she did just that. She stood outside the abandoned building for several hours before she decided to go inside. She knew no one squatted there, it was off-limits, but she felt compelled to explore it. She pried open the plywood covering the entrance and went inside. To her shock and horror she found half-eaten dead bodies, their necks torn apart and their entrails had become their extrails. She reeled in sickening horror, only to back into someone! She spun around to be greeted by a vampire, a living, breathing, well, not-so-breathing Vampire! His face was contorted like an animal and his fangs were bared.

She screamed and ran. Another vampire blocked her exit and grabbed her around her arms. She struggled. Before he could sink his fangs in her neck, she instinctively ran up a bare support pillar, flipping over the vampire and breaking his hold. She landed behind him and spun into a foot sweep. The Vampire fell to the ground while his friend stared dumbfounded. Her senses returned and she fled. She managed to escape that house of horrors that night, but she felt confused. For one thing, something she had always believed in was true: there are vampires, real vampires! For another thing, although she eventually ran in fear, her first instinct was to fight it. And not only that, but she kicked its ass! How was that possible? What was that about? She'd been in lots of fights before on the street, sure, but these were Vampires!!

She kept her encounter to herself, mostly. She told her boyfriend Seth, but he didn't believe her. She took to carrying around a sharpened wooden stick in her bag, just in case she ran into more Vampires. She also started hanging out in parts of town she never would have ventured into before. She was looking for trouble, but she didn't know why.

Then, on Saturday, July 5, while most of the crowds were up at the Blues Festival, she was wandering Chinatown. It was after 11. Even the usual lowlifes and drug dealers had abandoned the streets by 11. Most were in the bars and clubs by now, but not Jules. She wandered alone down the deserted streets. Figures appeared from around corners ahead and behind her, blocking her off. She could smell them. They were Vampires. They attacked and she fought them off, killing three and letting the fourth go. She's starting to get the hang of it.

Dairon Scalercio

Age 15, Half-Seraphim Hunter of Darkness(Hero).

It was at his Confirmation that the truth awoke within him. There was no bang, no flash, nothing out of the ordinary but within himself, he knew.

Dairon and his mother moved to the Portland area in 2000. His mother, raising him Catholic, figured that the best way for him to keep his faith strong was to be around other people of his faith as much as possible, and enrolled him in a summer youth program through an area church. The program included not only religious teachings and lectures, but also athletics. Dairon was playing soccer with a group of other early teens when Dairon’s natural athleticism and speed caught the eye of Alec Gormann. With his preternatural sense, he saw in Dairon the sleeping power of his half-seraph form. Alec had just completed a guest lecture at Portland State University and watched from the bleachers.

Although Dairon himself had no knowledge of his unique parentage or his particular inheritance, the forces of the supernatural could sense his nature. Alec could sense it too, and knew Dairon would one day be noticed and would be vulnerable.

Dairon's social life wasn't exactly blossoming. Save for his friendship with withdrawn Leo and smart-assed Ariel, he spent most of time alone. Going out into the city on his own afforded him a great deal of freedom, especially on his bike. Dairon's mother had started attending night classes and Alec had managed to convince her not only to join his class, but also befriended her in the process.

At what was an invitation home after class for dinner with the lecturer Alec noticed that Dairon, like a lot of kids, was a fan of martial arts and action movies. Dairon’s initially cool response to his mother's teacher warmed when the teacher mentioned that he had studied sword fighting in school when he was a boy-trained as a fencer. He offered to teach the boy if he wanted, once a week, if he was interested.

Dairon arrived early for his fourth sword fighting lesson, a skill he was learning at a good pace, when he was confronted and attacked by a baseball-bat wielding woman with ashen-grey skin. She looked normal in all other ways, but was totally devoid of color. She called out for Alec, attacking a frantically dodging Dairon. He drew his foil and leveled it at her, but she clubbed the hilt and Dairon dropped the sword. Alec arrived in time to prevent any further assault on him, but the woman’s features changed. There was a stench about her like the river on a hot day-dried and rotting kelp, fish, and other debris. Her face became more "demonic"-eyes growing, teeth stretching and growing jagged. With a backhand, she knocked Dairon for a loop-he never fully lost consciousness. Dairon remembered little of what he saw that night. What he does remember was Alec defeating the woman using more than just a standard fencing lesson.

Alec dodged explanation for a while, but eventually acquiesced. The spirit of someone who had committed suicide in the 1950's remained tethered to her body, which had never been found. Over the decades, her soul became enraged at the pain and the helplessness. Only with the release from her body would she find peace and a chance at life everlasting.

"But suicide is a mortal sin." Dairon said.

"God is not as petty as most Christians think." Alec said. "Nor is He as lenient as others assume."

At that moment, the power in Dairon had been awakened though he hadn’t realized it yet. Alec sensed the change, and Dairon’s training began in earnest.

That was 2001. Entering his junior year of high school, Dairon has a firm grasp of his abilities. As a warrior of the light, Dairon can hold his own with any creature of darkness.

As a normal teen, though, he needs help. His friendships are solid but his dating life is non-existent.

He's a decent looking guy, he really is, but something about him being romantic sets the girls on edge. Alec theorizes it's the element of the unnatural to him, especially when they look into his eyes. The eyes are the mirror to the soul and a big part of romance is "looking into your lover's eyes."

Doesn't help on Friday nights, though.

Raelin "Shadowdance" Mathers

Age 15, Goth Wicca (White Hat).

She was adopted as a baby. Her sole legacy from her birth mother was a leather-bound book written in an unknown language. Throughout her life, she has felt ignored and friendless. She has a strange and illogical mild aversion to anything made of iron. Not allergic or anything, she just prefers not to touch the stuff.

She's a shy introverted gothy Wiccan with budding magickal powerz. When she does make friends, she tends to try to hard to be liked and winds up scaring them away. She spends most of her time hanging out at the Rare Book Room of Powell's City of Books.

Recently, Raelin discovered that she's the long-lost daughter of Jyiel, Prince of the Unseelie. Jyiel attempted to abduct her and return her to "the Veil" but was rebuffed and he returned gravely injured and empty-handed.

Brian James

Age 17, Invulnerable Football Jock (Hero).

Brian had Cystic Fibrosis as a baby and wasn't expected to live past the age of 3. Miraculously, he survived and completely recovered with no trace of the disease. The rest of his childhood was charmed. He was always healthy. He skipped all of the normal childhood diseases. He never injured himself seriously. As a result, he became a strapping young man. Even in football, he suffered no injuries and seemed unstoppable.

In May, Brian was in a car accident. He lost control of his car and crashed into a tree. He should have died. At first he couldn't believe his luck, then the visions came. At first it was a voice only he could hear. A tiny whisper. "Why aren't you dead?" The whispers became voices. "You should have died." The voices became visions. "You should be dead." It's a little girl, about 10 years old. It's always the same girl. Her body is mangled, her arms broken, her face bleeding. She stands there, staring. Her hair is in pig-tails. She watches him curiously, almost reprovingly. Occasionally, she'll whisper her admonishing curse or ask her morbid question. "Why are you alive?"

At first, he thought it was an after-effect of a concussion. He had to have suffered at least a concussion, didn't he? However, eventually, the little girl got to him. He started to feel guilty. Why was she saying those things? Who is she? Why is she bothering me? What did I do to her? Was she right? Am I supposed to be dead? Maybe I should? Brian began to withdraw from his friends and parents. They're worried about him, but they haven't done anything yet. If he starts missing summer football practice, then they'll be worried about him.

Friends

Jules' Boyfriend, Seth

Dairon's Mentor, Alec Gormann

Dairon's mentor is Alec Gormann-he's much more a Julian Sands type in my mind than a John Rhys- Davies, mostly because Sands has a far different read to him than Rhys-Davies. Gormann is a theologian, a former seminarian, who left the prospects of the priesthood behind as a young man. He's written articles about the secularization of the Catholic church, as well as its interactions with other religions, that some have called radical, others crackpot, and a rare few blasphemous. He's an articulate, educated figure with a keen eye for things that are not what they seem, and in his youth, likely did some battle on his own against the darkness that encroached. It was easier to battle the evils outside the church walls than within.

But age comes to all men, and by the time he reached the age of forty, he realized he couldn't fight the same way he had before.

Alec has been married, once. The marriage ended in divorce, but Alec did not pursue another romance until it was also annulled in the Catholic Church. He offers a lecture course every year at PSU with a once-a-month class geared towards a specific theme.

Alec Gormann was born 1958 in Lancastershire, England. Despite his Anglican parents’ protests, he joined the catholic seminary in 1976 at age 18. Graduated and ordained in 1982. Met an American girl in 1984. Decided to leave the priesthood and get married. Moved to America. Alec was divorced in 1989. He doesn't talk about it much. From 1989 to 1994, Alec disappeared. He doesn't talk about this period at all.

In 1994 he purchased a home in Northwest Portland. He began teaching at Portland State University. In 2000, he met Dairon, who was then age 13.

Dairon and his mother moved to the area as had been previously mentioned. His mother, raising him Catholic, figured that the best way for him to keep his faith strong was to be around other people of his faith as much as possible, and enrolled him in a summer youth program through an area church. The program included not only religious teachings and lectures, but also athletics. Dairon was playing soccer with a group of other early teens when Alec saw the natural athleticism and speed Dairon possessed. With his sight beyond sight, he saw in him what was essentially sleeping power of his half-seraph form. Alec had just completed a guest lecture, and watched from the bleachers.

Now, despite Dairon not knowing about his divine parentage, it didn't mean that some people...some beings...couldn't detect something "weird" about him themselves. Not all of them were friendly, and not all of what was left benign. Seeing as how Dairon's social life wasn't exactly blossoming, save for friendship with two people, Leo and Ariel, a couple of "normal kids", he spent a lot of time alone, and going out into the city on his own afforded him a great deal of freedom, especially on his bike. Dairon's mother (did we ever settle on a name/actress for her? Let's say Kyra, and have her played by Paula Marshall-link attached below) had started attending night classes, and Alec had managed to convince her not only to join his class, but also befriended her in the process.

At what was an invitation home after class for dinner with the lecturer, Alec noticed that Dairon, like a lot of kids, was a fan of martial arts movies, action stuff, and had a certain familiar Christopher Lambert/Clancy Brown film playing when he arrived. The initial cool response from the teen to his mother's teacher warmed when the teacher mentioned that he had studied sword fighting in school when he was a boy-trained as a fencer. He offered to teach the boy if he wanted, once a week, if he was interested.

Dairon arrived early for his fourth sword fighting lesson and was learning at a good pace, when he was confronted...then attacked...by a baseball-bat wielding woman whose face was totally grey. She looked normal in all other ways, but was totally devoid of color-she called out for Alec, attacking a frantically dodging Dairon. He drew his foil and leveled it at her, but she clubbed the hilt, causing him to drop the sword where he stood. Alec arrived in time to prevent any further assault on him, and her features changed. There was a stench about her like the river on a hot day-dried and rotting kelp, fish, and other debris. Her face became more "demonic"-eyes stretching, teeth stretching, teeth growing jagged...with a backhand, she knocked his senses for a loop-he never fully lost consciousness, but Dairon remembered little of the fight that he saw that night. Only that the woman was defeated by Alec in what was more than just a standard fencing lesson.

Alec dodged explanation for a while, but eventually acquiesced-the spirit of someone who had committed suicide in the 1950's remained tethered to her body, which had never been found. It wasn't until she had been released from her body...which held only the pain and helplessness that turned to rage over the decades...that she would find peace, and a chance at life everlasting. "But suicide....is a mortal sin..." Dairon said. "God is not as petty as most Christians think..." Alec said. "Nor is He as lenient as others assume." From there, the training began in earnest...and Alec was there when the "awakening" occurred.

Raelin's Mentor, Sierra Nelson

Sierra is a hippie tree-hugging socialist activist Wiccan . She's currently attending Reed College during the day while working on her Masters Degree in Liberal Studies. At night she works as the curator of Powell's Rare Book Collection at Powell's City of Books. She has a BA in Literature from Miskatonic University in Massachussetts.

She allows Raelin to read the books and help out with the collection.

Dairon's Mother, Kyra Scalercio

In 1987, 19-year-old Kyra Scalercio met and fell in love with a man who called himself Sirachus, a mysterious stranger who saved her life.

Love, says the Creator, is in all things and, through the ages, even an angel may feel loneliness and may love in turn. Sacraments such as marriage, however, are forbidden to the angels, given as a gift to man and man alone. Their affair was brief and all too soon the angel Sirachus was called to return to the heavens.

Nine months later, Kyra gave birth to a healthy boy she named Dairon Jonathan Scalercio.

Kyra never regarded her son as a punishment. Her son was always beautiful in her eyes. He was raised to respect the Catholic faith and was taught virtue and righteousness. Some of it stuck, some didn't, but he was no different from any other child.

Dairon's Friend, Ariel

Dairon's Friend, Leo

Brian's Ghosts

Brian was originally haunted by the ghost of a 4-year-old girl with wounds consistent with a high-speed car accident.

Enemies

Jyiel is the overlord of the Unseelie, the dark fairies of "The Veil", the land of the fairies. Jyiel is clad in chain armor with the softness and weight of silk and wields a silver sword. He rides a white charger. He is generally attended by several Unseelie Knights, armor-clad warriors riding powerful horses, and Lesser Knights, diminuitive warriors who ride stags. They may only leave the veil during the Wyld Hunt, a special pass provided by the Seelie Queen. They must leave at dusk and must return to the Veil by midnight. Passage through the veil can only occur through a Fairy Circle, a circle of toadstools generally found near a Ley Line Nexus such as the one found on the summit of Mt. Tabor.

Ignacio is a tall, strikingly handsome Spanish man. He is very refined, with excellent taste. He typically wears snappy designer clothes and two gold earrings.

Each head has six eyes and three pairs of fangs. It's wings are said to be able to block the sun.