jennifer_strange

The Player
Name/nickname: Carrie/Platy
Age: 29
Pronouns: female
Contact: AIM: platy121; email: cariva02@smumn.edu
Currently played characters: wildmage_daine

The Character
DW account: jennifer_strange
Name: Jennifer Strange
Alias: Jenny
Age/Birthdate: Sixteen years old
Species: Human
Canon: "The Last Dragonslayer" by Jasper Fforde
Canon point: end of the novel
Played By: Emma Watson

Icon:

http://www.dreamwidth.org/userpic/6485121/2053759

Abilities:
As the Last Dragonslayer, Jennifer can enter the dragonlands and wield the mighty blade Exhorbitus (to a point; she's not good at using it, but she can handle it without being vaporized). She is also a Berzerker: a rare and fearless warrior who, when incensed, can pull energy from those around her and channel it into impressive and terrifying bouts of violence. Rarer still, she can contain her temper, something few (if any) other Berzerkers can manage.

She will also be accompanied by the Quarkbeast, her loyal companion. He's similar to an Border Terrier in size and disposition, but he has scales instead of fur, and a mouth featuring multiple rows of large, obsidian fangs. Most people are intimidated by the sight of him, as he looks (and technically is) fully capable of taking a chunk out of someone - in fact, he's capable of chewing through most metals (with the exception of titanium, which slows him a little) and has a particular fondness for magnesium, which is like catnip to Quarkbeasts. He's reasonably intelligent, able to communicate through rudimentary signs, and understands a good deal of human speech. He is also fiercely loyal to Jennifer and doesn't take kindly to anyone threatening her. Overall, though, he's good natured and sweet, and doesn't understand why people tend to scream and run away from him all the time.

Also, he says, "Quark."


Appearance:
Jennifer is about 5'3", with brown hair and eyes. Build-wise, she's on the slim side of average. Due to being a foundling (an orphan, essentially), she has had to grow up quickly and is quite mature for her age. She tends to behave in a professional manner that few would expect from a sixteen-year-old, and her position as acting manager of Kazam Mystical Arts Management (a company that hires out wizards) has only heightened that natural tendency. She needs to be taken seriously by those around her - both the wizards she manages and the clients who are expecting to speak to an adult - and will adjust her behavior, if necessary, to make sure that happens. She also tries to dress as professionally as her limited budget allows. Despite being a Dragonslayer and a Berzerker, she is not adept with weaponry of any kind under normal circumstances, and is neither unusually clumsy nor especially graceful. (If she lost her temper, she would probably be efficiently lethal with whatever she had on hand.)

Personality:
Jennifer has a strong sense of duty. Though her position at Kazam is essentially one of indentured servitude, she takes her job seriously and tries very hard to live up to the standards set by the absent manager (Mr. Zambini) whose shoes she has to fill. Her dutifulness is sometimes complimented by her own moral code: she shares Zambini's desire to keep magic a positive force for good and is willing to butt heads with any who disagree, up to and including royalty. Sometimes, however, her morality clashes with her sense of duty, and she struggles with the choice between doing what she's supposed to do and doing what she feels is right. Ultimately, she is willing to make sacrifices on either end for what she perceives as the greater good, but she doesn't enjoy it.

Like many foundlings, Jennifer possesses a dry sense of humor. This is, in part, a necessary coping mechanism for someone who works with wizards on a daily basis: you never know when someone is going to blow up their bedroom or levitate your apprentice onto a chandelier, and having a sense of humor about such things helps when she inevitably has to sort them out. Given what would happen if she truly lost her temper (which she endeavors to keep, for everyone's safety), it's both convenient and important that she's good at finding the humor in frustrating situations. She has a very high tolerance for nonsense, as it beats being bored.

As previously mentioned, Jennifer is a very mature sixteen-year-old. In her universe, driving licenses are administered by maturity level, not age, and she earned her license when she was thirteen. As a foundling, she was sold to Kazam Mystical Arts Management at the age of twelve, so she has been working in an environment inhabited almost exclusively by adults (albeit wizards) for years. Growing up quickly was necessary, both so she could interact with her employers and, later, manage them. While some of the wizards she works with aren't sold on her worthiness as an acting manager, most have a great deal of faith in her and appreciate what she does for the company.


History:
Jennifer was presumably born in the Kingdom of Hereford, one of the Ununited Kingdoms. As a foundling, little is known of her origins; the only clue she has as to where she came from is the orange Volkswagon she was found inside. This car was the only thing she owned prior to becoming the Last Dragonslayer. Jennifer was named and brought up by the Blessed Ladies of the Lobster (most often referred to as the Lobsterhood) until the age of twelve. She was under the care of the convent's mother superior, an ancient and considerably barmy ex-enchantress named Zenobia. Jennifer and the other foundlings were trained to enter the workforce, and at the age of twelve, Jennifer was sold to Kazam Mystical Arts Management as an indentured servant.

For her first few years at Kazam, Jennifer worked closely with Mr. Zambini (formerly the Great Zambini), the manager of Kazam and a powerful wizard, particularly in his youth, before magic started to fade. He became something of a father figure to her, and she greatly admired the time and effort he put in to making sure the company ran smoothly. Unfortunately, due to the decreasing amount of magic in the Ununited Kingdoms, it became increasingly difficult to make ends meet. By the time Jennifer turned fifteen, Zambini was reduced to a most shameful act to keep the company running: doing children's parties. Shortly after that, he disappeared, leaving Jennifer to assume his duties and become the acting manager in his absence. She had learned enough by that time to adequately fill his shoes, but she missed him, and convincing others that she knew what she was doing wasn't always easy.

Shortly before Jennifer's sixteenth birthday (a given date, as few foundlings know their actual birth dates), the Lobsterhood sent another foundling, a twelve-year-old boy named Tiger, to Kazam. Jennifer took him under her wing as an apprentice of sorts, and began to show him the ropes.

Shortly after Tiger's arrival, there was a sharp spike in the UK's latent wizidrical powers. Wizards found themselves suddenly able to perform spells they never would have dreamed of pulling off a week before. In conjunction with this, wizards who specialized in precognition began to predict the death of the last dragon, a very old creature named Maltcassion. One of the King's pre-cogs takes things a step farther, predicting that a young woman named Strange will be somehow involved in the dragon's death.

Most wizards agree that there seems to be a link between dragons and magic, so the prospect of the last dragon's death would have been concerning even without Jennifer's predicted involvement. If magic vanished entirely, Kazam could not survive; the already struggling wizard population will be out of work. Concerned for her charges employers, and curious as to how any of it could involve her, Jennifer began to investigate the possible effects of Maltcassion's death.

One such effect is a giant landrush, which had people from all over the Ununited Kingdoms converging on the Dragonlands. By royal decree, a dragon's land is up for grabs as soon as a dragon dies; all someone has to do is stake a claim, and the land is theirs. No one but a Dragonslayer can enter the Dragonlands while the dragon still lives - a magical barrier vaporizes anyone who tries - but crowds began to gather around the Dragonlands. The situation was further complicated by the rivalry between King Snodd of Hereford and the Duke of Brecon. The Dragonlands served as a buffer between them, and if it became accessible, there were fears that King Snodd would seize the chance to expand his borders.

Jennifer's investigation led her to seek out the current Dragonslayer, an elderly gentleman named Brian Spalding. Spalding informed Jennifer that he had been waiting for her, as she was destined to become the Last Dragonslayer. She was brought to the Dragonstation and introduced to the mighty sword Exhorbitus, as well as the Slayermobile, a heavily armored Rolls-Royce. By placing her hands on a magical book, she was implanted with the collected knowledge of all the previous Dragonslayers. Shortly after this transfer, Spalding died; he was 150 years old, and it was only Old Magic that had kept him alive until Jennifer arrived.

Jennifer was deeply troubled by Spalding's death, and by the prospect of having to kill Maltcassion. Fortunately, the terms of the Dragonpact decreed that a dragon could not be killed unless it transgressed by leaving the Dragonlands and rampaging around the countryside, which Maltcassion had not done.

Seeking more information, Jennifer entered the Dragonlands to speak with Maltcassion. She found him to be a very intellectual and kind dragon, which further solidified her desire to not kill him on the predicted time and day. Unfortunately, plenty of people were quite eager for the dragon to die so they could make their claims on his land, including King Snodd. Snodd attempted to convince Jennifer to start staking off land for him before Maltcassion died, but Jennifer refused. Snodd was unhappy with her, but unable to attack her directly because of her unique position as the Dragonslayer and the Old Magic involved.

Meanwhile, Jennifer had become an overnight celebrity and was being overwhelmed with requests for product endorsements, interviews, and offers of marriage. When a man (Gordon van Gordon Gordonson ap Gordon-Gordon of Gordon) presented himself as a potential assistant, she hired him on the spot to help manage the offers. As her assistant, Gordon could handle Exhorbitus and enter the Dragonlands with her if necessary. Kazam still needed running as well, though Tiger was able to pick up some of the slack while Jennifer adjusted to her new position.

As it became increasingly apparent that Jennifer had no intention of killing the dragon if it could possibly be avoided, those who wanted the dragon dead took matters into their own hands. Evidence of a rampaging dragon began to turn up around the kingdom, and though Jennifer was convinced Maltcassion had nothing to do with it, she couldn't prove it wasn't the dragon, and her duty compelled her to confront him if enough evidence was collected. At the same time, King Snodd exploited legal loopholes in an attempt to jail her, and when that failed, he then attempted to have her killed by one of his knights, Sir Matt Grifflon, so Grifflon could become the Dragonslayer. Jennifer managed to evade Grifflon with the help of the Quarkbeast and Exhorbitus, which was sharp enough to easily cut through walls.

On the date of the predicted slaying, Jennifer made her way into the Dragonlands. There, she and the Quarkbeast discovered Gordon staking off land in the name of ConStuff, a large corporation and his real employer. When Jennifer confronted him, he pulled a gun on her. The Quarkbeast came to her defense, and was subsequently shot and killed. Angered by the loss of the Quarkbeast, Jennifer fired Gordon. Since he was no longer her assistant, the magic that had allowed him to enter the Dragonlands expired, and so did he.

Jennifer made her way to Maltcassion's lair. There, the dragon informed her of the true nature of the Dragonpact: the Dragonlands were not a safe haven for the dragons, as everyone had been led to believe, but a prison designed by The Mighty Shandar, a wizard of legendary power. It was impossible for the dragons to transgress, because it was impossible for them to leave: the same barrier that stopped humans from entering also stopped dragons from leaving. The dragons were trapped, their magic slowly siphoned away to power the barrier.

Jennifer concluded that she didn't have to kill him, after all, but Maltcassion insisted that she must: it was her destiny, and his death would result in a Big Magic that had been planned for centuries. Despite her strong misgivings, Jennifer did her duty at Maltcassion's insistence, and killed him.

The barrier fell, allowing King Snodd's army to march into the Dragonlands. Enraged by the King's intrusion - and by the conspicuous lack of any other magical reaction - Jennifer lost her temper. Her rage allowed her to draw power from the assembled crowds around the Dragonlands, giving her the strength to channel Big Magic through Exhorbitus and into Maltcassion's body. Then, she fainted.

She awoke to the concerned faces of two new dragons: Feldspar Axiom Firebreath IV and Colin. They informed her that dragons are renewed by death: if you kill one, two take its place. By killing Maltcassion and channeling the Big Magic, she had unraveled the old spells and created a new one. The Dragonlands were still protected from human invasion by the barrier, but the dragons themselves could come and go freely. And with the renewal of the dragons came the renewal of magic, ensuring that wizards would always be able to find employment.

The King still wasn't happy with her, but after a week in prison and some legal wrangling, Jennifer was released and allowed to resume her duties as acting manager of Kazam, while also serving as an ambassador between the dragons and humanity.

Writing Sample:

"Quark?"

The Quarkbeast's loss was recent enough that muscle memory has Jennifer turning toward the sound even as her actual memory reminds her that her Quarkbeast is gone. But there one is, standing half-in, half-out of the Transient Moose's left foreleg and panting at her. Her throat tightens as her brow furrows in confusion, and she plants her hands on her hips. She is not going to start crying in one of the common areas where any given wizard might see her.

"Where did you come from?" she asks the little creature, pleased to hear no trace of a quaver in her tone.

"Quark," the Quarkbeast informs her, trotting forward and leaving the Transient Moose to continue rubbing its side against one of the kitchen's refrigerators. It's hard not to flinch; this isn't her Quarkbeast, after all. Even if it had been, it still would have been hard not to flinch at the approach of a creature that looks like the unlikely offspring of a velociraptor, a Border Terrier, and a knife drawer. It sits down in front of her, its scaly tail wagging scuff marks into the linoleum floor.

After a moment's hesitation, Jennifer drops into a crouch, the better to peer into the creature's large, mauve eyes. Legend has it that Quarkbeasts are sent by dead relatives to watch over people during times of difficulty, and she's certain her father sent the last one. It had been comforting, after its loss, to think that its death had meant something, that it had fulfilled its purpose. Now, following that same logic doesn't lead anywhere especially comforting.

"Don't tell me I'm in need of another one," she mutters, more to herself than anyone else. Things have finally started to settle down, at least to a point - you can only get so settled when you're managing wizards, especially now that everyone is back to their old strength again. But she's been out of jail for two weeks, and is discovering a nice balance between her duties as acting manager and her duties as the Last Dragonslayer. If she's really being sent another Quarkbeast, that doesn't bode too well for her future.

Still, she can't help but be glad to see it. Against her better judgment, Jennifer reaches forward to run a finger over the comparatively soft scales behind the Quarkbeast's ear.

A flash of light blinds her, and she topples backwards, throwing out a hand to catch herself. Said hand sinks wrist-deep into what feels like snow, and she staggers to her feet with a yelp.

"Quark, quark," she hears the Quarkbeast say, and she suppresses a groan of irritation as she waits for her vision to return. Everyone at Kazam should really know by now to keep their more volatile experiments confined to their own quarters. Blinking furiously and wiping her hand on her pants, she registers that the air is downright freezing, and she gives her head a little shake. Creating a miniature winter in the kitchens is an impressive feat, but someone's going to have to clean this up. And then there's the paperwork. If there's any damage, this might call for a P3-8F.

Her vision finally clears, and Jennifer lifts her head to take in the state of the kitchens... only to not see the kitchens at all. She's outside, on a cold winter's day. Turning in a slow circle, she gapes at the unfamiliar buildings around her. This isn't Hereford. This isn't even London.

She shivers for reasons that have little to do with the temperature. Even in his prime, the Great Zambini had only been able to teleport over a hundred miles. How many shandars of magic would it take to transport her through space and time?

"More Big Magic," she mutters to herself as the Quarkbeast blinks up at her. "Wonderful."



Anything else?