La Sorciere

Francoise Renaux is known mostly by literature enthusiasts and people looking to aquire/be rid of various old texts on the occult. Francoise while having a reputation for being a Go To source on Occult Texts seems to have developed a reputation for being extremely picky about whom she will sell occult texts to.

Background
Born in Paris, Francoise's first encounter with the occult came when she snuck off with some friends to attend one of the Forbidden Parties held deep within the underground catacombs beneath the city of lights. Francoise's best friend Aimee was turning 16, and as a result her parents were allowing her to have a massive party. What Aimee's parents didn't know was that Aimee and her friends were all planing to sneak off during the late hours of the party and head to an illegal rave.

Francoise, being only fourteen at the time, was on the extremely young side for one of these parties and mostly kept to her self, following Aimee around like a lost puppy as the strobe lights flickered and the thrum of the baseline rocked through the partying youths. Some time shortly after the group of teenagers got to the party it began to break down; a problem with the lighting and sound system causing the battery banks being used to short out. With everyone complaining loudly and the only lights people's cellphones Francoise soon found her self lost, traveling deeper into the catacombs calling for help; remembering why her parents always told her to stay out of them.

Eventually Francoise found her self at the end of a long tunnel, staring down into what seemed some form of antechamber. Noticing the poor state of the ground, Francoise made the attempt to turn back... but it was no use. Landing amidst a pile of rubble with a badly broken leg, Francoise began to wonder if she was going to die in that underground chamber and never be found.

The antechamber seemed like an unofficial addition to the catacombs, with a strange pedestal in the center. Upon the pedestal was a large tome, wrapped in leather and bound by what appeared to be wrought iron chain work and seven sturdy padlocks. Along the walls of the antechamber were strange markings, words that seemed to change every time Francoise tried to discern them.

Nearly three days had passed before Francoise began to hear strange whispers in the darkness; her cellphone's battery long since depleted - not that it would have mattered anyway, as she had been unable to get any signal. Each whisper causing Francoise to call out, hoping it was the sounds of rescue. Finally realizing that help wasn't coming, Francoise began to try and affect her own rescue; but for the young girl, feeling around in the darkness with a broken leg was hardly an easy task. Several times, she thought the large statues lining the walls of the room started moving their eyes at her, dim lights filling the room as her vision adjusted. She even could swear some of them were talking to her in whispers, telling her 'Tell no one' and 'Leave this place.' And there were whispers coming from the book as well 'Take me' and 'Read me' and 'Set me free.'

Propping herself up against the central pedestal, she pushed the book from its perch. The moment her palm touched the chains of the book, she was suddenly blinded by a bright light, and found herself staring forward with the glaring noonday sun overhead. She was on the ground, safe in her backyard, the wrapped-up tome next to her. Bewildered, she quickly shoved the tome under a nearby shrub as a flurry of people calling her name came out from her back door. At which point she promptly passed out from dehydration and hunger.

When she once again came to, she was lying in a hospital bed. Her father Jean started asking her where she'd been, but instead of believing what she told him about some strange antechamber with glowing changing words, and how after touching a whispering book, she was teleported back to her home; instead figured that his girl had been slipped drugs at the party and gotten lost. A reasonable assumption, all things considered. She spent the next two weeks in the hospital while her leg healed up and her she was taken care of for her malnourishment and dehydration, all the while trying to explain to her family about the strange room.

Upon being released from the hospital Francoise's first action was to retrieve her knapsack from the bushes and get it up into her room where she would sit with a hacksaw and other tools from her father's toolkit for hours, working the wrought iron locks open one by one until at last the last one fell free. Wrapped within the leather a massive book bound in a strange scaly hide with pages like paper thin leather.

Opening the book, Francoise's eyes became instantly unfocused and her nose began to bleed as the book began to transfer the understanding of the language of it's contents into her mind. Delving deeper into its contents the book seemed to be some kind of Guide, each page almost whispering to the young girl. Each whisper telling of fantastic and impossible things.

By the time she was 18, Francoise had begun mastering the finer points of the Tome's contents. The intricate workings of magic were not come by simply, Francoise's power still rather miniscule. Sure, she could float a pencil or give things a hard nudge but that seems to be the extent of her power, if it could be called that. For some reason, she never told her parents about the book, and never even thought to do so. Maybe she did not want her parents thinking she had gotten into witchcraft or satanism. Maybe she just liked keeping the feeling of power the book gave her to herself. Maybe she didn't want to scare them about this. Maybe the book influenced her. Francoise never even asked herself about the motivation to do this in secret - she just went with it.

Francoise left her home when she turned 18, and kept studying from the book. Each time, she'd learn more magic, she felt herself needing to give up a little extra spark of her own being in exchange. Like she kept giving up little bits of her own soul. It made her feel emptier, despite getting more power. She spent a great deal of time musing over the tome's contents, coming across a particular spell in it - the Ritual of Binding between Familiar and Sorceress. Upon reaching a decision, Francoise gave up the first piece of herself to summon the bird who would later become her best friend and companion, Chaucer. And despite giving up a little more of her soul, she no longer felt empty, having a permanent friend with whom she could share her experiences.

With Chaucer around the girl felt a new rush of power surging through her, as if she could feel both the book and the bird at all times. With this new found power Francoise pushed with renewed vigor back into her studies of the Tome. Mastering the basics of lifting small or light objects and even managing to get her self to hover for about a half second before the splitting headache and nosebleed grounded her.

By the time she was twenty one (21) Francoise had given up a large portion of her self in the pursuit of Mastery and begun to travel around the world, joining on with various Aid groups in Africa, looking to help people while she travels for her 'Studies' as she explains to people. She didn't tell anyone, but her purpose to visiting Africa was to find the right components for her focus. Having Chaucer with her made her feel the costs to her spark weren't as bad anymore, but she realized that she would soon have to stop before she lost too much of her soul to let her remain feeling 'human.' It's why she started relying more on her existing spells, on using a focus, on trying to do good works to make up for the parts of her spirit that she felt she had lost in exchange for magical power and by the time she was thirty (30), Francoise had taken Chaucer and emigrated to the united states, where she opened a small bookshop, buying selling and trading books of all kinds, looking for more opportunities to 'mend' her soul.

Personality
Reclusive - Francoise has spent many years studying magic however as a result of such dedicated focus and exploration into the world of Magic, Francoise neglected persuing too many relationships with others; because of this she has found more friendship in her Familiar than in other people.

Cautious - Discovering the world of magic has opened Francoise's eyes to the horrors most humans will never comprehend and she understands how dangerous the world can be to the unprepared.

Honorable - Geas aside, Francoise is a woman of her word. To her, saying a thing is the same as doing it. Should she make an oath, she will do all in her power to keep her word; doing her best until she simply can't anymore.

Compassionate - Francoise is compassionate to others' pain, sometimes to her detriment as the sorceress often finds her self involved in other peoples problems because true evil is when 'good men and women stand aside and do nothing'.

Logs

 * TBA