Shiri McSwain

Concept: Retired Goddess

AKA: Hundreds of names down through the years, occasionally being confused with Catholic Saints, Orishas, Totems and so on. She kind of insists of “Shiri” now.  Says that it keeps HER from getting confused.

Desc: An older woman in her late 40’s but still vibrant and active. Walks a lot,. Does the hot yoga. Beautiful smile and laugh lines. More like crinkles. Everything on her is still high and perky. Brown eyes still from her first form. For some, it’s the only way to recognize her from the old days. She still likes to keep her hair long and curly.  Besides, her hubby likes it that way. Has a tattoo on her left arm which reads “Aperi cor tuum, et non sequitur sapientia”  (Trans: Open your heart and wisdom will follow) She got it when she was young but never got tired of it. Not everyone notices this, but Shiri doesn’t ever really get cold. Her husband HAS noticed that she’s nice and toasty at all times, but if he’s got a problem with that, he’s never said as much.

History: Not to put too fine a point on it. But Shiri used to be a goddess. A hearth goddess to be exact. A tender of the flame of knowledge and wisdom and she’s held that position since she was formed until the present day.

   Oh sure, worshippers aren’t exactly thick on the ground. But a long time ago, Shiri got the idea to spread her influence into any pantheon that didn’t raise a stink, and also to cut WAY back on what she needed in order to do her work. I mean, it’s not like she’s a war god or anything. Not too many people go seeking knowledge or enlightenment anymore. or even EVER.

In truth, she’s never really sought worshippers. Her people come to her. And when they do she cherishes them. They don’t always prosper, but they always come away from the ups and downs of life with more wisdom than they expected.

Or at least they did.

Over the centuries, the need for gods and goddesses has diminished, although SOME gods and goddess haven’t taken it as such and are as much of a pain in the ass as you’d imagine.  Shiri gave up all that Pantheon politics bullshit long ago and took physical form.  Lots of Gods and Goddesses end up getting caught up in the inevitable push broom of the war between heaven and hell...and as the saying goes, You go where the work is.

But Shiri got out of all that. She went native and although she shakes it up every 50 years or so, She likes her lives for the most part.

Take this life, for example, She has a job doing what she loves. She’s the head librarian of the main branch of the Public Library. That big one over on McFarland Avenue. She married an economist (Robert Mcswain) who is slowly becoming a semi-famous economist. (It helps that he’s an excellent and funny writer and can make economics engaging and fun.)

   And she’s even involved in mortal politics a little this time around. She attached herself to a progressive candidate after hearing him speak and then having an INTERESTING conversation with him about how Libraries across the nation are under attack.  It’s a concept near and dear to her heart, after all, she invented them.

Oh sure, It’s not like she doesn’t have supernatural stuff going in her life occasionally. Her best friend in the city was mummified according to ancient Chinese rites and is still creeping around. Shiri is as Pansexual (and Sapiosexual) as they come. But even her husband doesn’t seem to mind when they take each other to bed.  Occasionally, Family and less desirable sorts, seek her out for aid with this or that problem.  Occasionally, she’ll feel a new worshipper asking for her in the old ways, and she gets curious and seeks them out.  Occasionally, some Beast or some Vampire will wander into her domain and wish they hadn’t...Because her fire won’t burn books or knowledge...But it’ll fuck up a vampire’s night just fine.

But Shiri doesn’t go looking for a fight. And if she can manage it, any conflict coming towards her will fall apart or lose energy before it gets to her. And if that doesn’t work...FIRE. Probably in your face.

She loves Robert. And she’ll age with him up to a point...But at some point, they’ll part. Both know it, and they do what they can to love another until they do. Shiri has seen the alternative. Knows many people who’ve learned ALL the wrong lessons from Immortality. No one can live without love. Not one lifetime. Not a dozen.

Attitude:  ‘Child...I have been at this quite a while. I took a long time to amass this knowledge. You can at least be patient enough to let me unravel it for you.”

Skills: Let’s focus on the mortal shell first. She’s in fine shape for a woman of her age. Heals about as fast as a Werewolf and is capable of some limited shapeshifting. It’s not fast at all so it’s not terribly useful as a means to disguise oneself on the fly, but just fine for assuming a whole other life if she desires. She’s even been a man a time or two.  She has learned a few combat skills, but truly, she feels as if she “loses” anytime she is forced to resort to them. She still practices her Aikido at the “Y”

Her Mental and Social portfolio might be unscalable in this game system. The sheer amount of her experience alone could fill a library. if she has a problem at all it is that she might not be up on more modern methods.  She knows science and medicine but is more likely to hew to Newtonian physics rather than the Einstein model and be more capable of knocking something out with a well-made poultice than advanced thoracic surgery.

On the spiritual end of things, Shiri is the same as a class 4 spirit, except permanently embodied. Which is not to say that the physical shell can’t be killed. It can. But eventually, She’ll be able to reform herself physically and continue as she was. (Unless she decides to give it up and go off by herself for while.)

She possesses the following Bans: 

1) She cannot destroy any repository of learning. Her fire cannot burn books, scrolls, or any other medium that carries knowledge. Even DARK knowledge.  She might be able to burn down Fox News, but she hasn’t tried.

2) She cannot refuse anyone who formally requests her counsel (Note: Sharing her wisdom is NOT the same as sharing knowledge or data. She cannot be compelled in THAT fashion)

3) If she is summoned to a hearth using the old rites, she must come. This has been used against her in the past and she generally turns up nowadays loaded for bear until she determines the summoners intent.

4) If anyone burns a book in her presence, she must withdraw. If she sees you again...Well. I wouldn’t want to be you.

5) If she is submerged in running water she will drown like any other human. (This is actually a bane for her. She can’t even swim.)

However, on the plus side she’s got the following Advantages:

5 dots of Influence (Wisdom) 5 Dots of Influence(Fire)

Numina: Aggressive Meme, Blast, Implant Mission, Fate Sense, Innocuous, Omen Trance, Firestarter And Emotional Aura.  

Gear: It should be mentioned, that Shiri uses Omen Trance once a week at least to keep her stock portfolio nice and healthy. In fact, She has an entire investment group that she owns. No one who works there has ever met her. Money isn’t her driving motivator, but there IS a certain amount of Buddhistic calm that comes from money in the bank. Also, when the library is suffering from budgetary shortfalls. Miraculously, an “Anonymous donor” appears.

Home: They live in a lovely little brownstone that is walking distance from both of their jobs. The place is largely furnished in bookshelves as you might imagine. But the funny thing is, most of the books belong to Robert. The dining room has been converted to an office space where they have matching Mac’s facing one another.  Robert, an inveterate Trekker, has dubbed this area “The Bridge” and Shiri is almost able to stifle the rolling of her eyes. There is a hidden armory in the garage which features automatic weapons and a number of esoteric magic weapons as well.

As I mentioned, sometimes Family drops by and they aren’t always pleasant.

They have a guest bedroom which can, in a pinch, double as an operating theater.

Circle: Shiri is beloved by many. Her Library and home are oases of calm and peace for the most part. She knows the neighbors on her block and her banana nut bread is widely touted as being the absolute best. In addition, she is a known name among the people who live on the street. It’s widely known that if you have a library card, and you don’t cause trouble on the premises, that you can head into the main branch downtown and stay all day if you want. Shiri made that policy, and while some of the librarians under her grumble about it, they don’t question her. She’s been right about nearly everything else.

Story Uses:

“ Why would anyone come after me? I’m nobody really.”

Occasionally, even wise ex-goddesses need a bit of protection. Sometimes, Antagonists conceive of the idea that maybe Shiri might attempt to stop them, and decide to whack her first. Other times, it may be that her semi-famous economist husband is upsetting the “accepted wisdom” applecart and things get politically dicey. (Someone tried to run Robert off the road one night.  He didn’t get very far.)  it may be that some friend of hers or family member gets word that someone is coming for her and calls in some markers. However it happens, The PC’s end up babysitting a librarian/goddess.

“Come on in. I’ll put the kettle on and we’ll see if I can help.”

As full-on goddesses go. Shiri is pretty cool. Not overbearing at all. Likes most people and wants to see them prosper. and only gets hateful if you’re a book-burning Nazi fuck, or you hurt Robert at all.  She might make a good mentor if you can convince her that you’re worth it for the long-term. Be prepared to swear some kind of oath if that’s your plan.

Connections:

* Merl's  "Love that place. I think they keep the fireplace lit just for me unless it's summer of course. I don't drink a lot. But every once in a while...And they always treat me like family.

* Thomas Jones Rutherford "Thomas is not wrong. The morality of Gods is different from yours. But just as I say that he is not wrong. He isn't right either.  *She shrugs* He doesn't know that I know though. It's probably just as well.

* Judge Mattarazzo  "Paul is a peach. He's in the library at least once a week reading international newspapers. Love him. I once caught him instructing one of my new hires in some of the finer arcana of the Dewey Decimal system. He knows this place like the back of his hand.

* Tim Deacon & Charlie " Both of these men have been dealt a bad hand by life. Both of them have gifts that most mortals would fear and misunderstand. I only wish I could do more to help them than I already do."

* Reverend Dr. Miranda Goines "Every once in while she comes in looking for reference materials that aren't available in the university library (Sometimes it's older city historical documents, The university collection is paltry on that score.) I like her. She has spirit. She reminds me of myself in younger days, before Alexandria..."

* Collette Reeves In here every once in a while, making her way through the special collections. Always know what to ask for. She's nice. I like her.  But she does make me wish I was a younger woman or man. Unf.

* Rika Martinez "I don't even know if he remembers, But Master Dorje and I met while I was traveling a couple of lives ago. Nice man. Fiercely protective of his scrolls as I remember. Now I see him looking out at me through a young girl's eyes and recognizing me...and I think SHE suspects something as well. The things she checks out are certainly an eclectic mix. It will be interesting to see what form the approach will take.