Claire Dryden

Fate had seemed intent on dealing Claire and her little sister a bad hand from the start. Claire vaguely remembers a man and that he walked out after the birth of her sister Phoebe, leaving only their mentally unstable mother to care for them. Paranoid and constantly ranting and raving about monsters everywhere watching and listening, it was hardly long before Elise Dryden’s daughters were removed from her custody. Before her eldest daughter was plucked from her arms however, she made Claire promise to protect her younger sister before thrusting a pendant into her small hands. From there, the girls were bounced from foster home to foster home, and for a long while, remained together. The one bit of good luck they ever had. But it was not to last. When the girls were in their teens, they were separated. Claire didn’t go without a fight however, and gave a social worker a black eye. It took almost a year, but Claire found Phoebe, and together they ran away. To where, they did not know, only that they would not be driven apart. The teenage runaways survived by less than ideal means. Thievery, running for local gangs, breaking and entering, the bulk of which was done by Claire, hoping to keep her baby sister’s record as squeaky clean as possible. Phoebe was smart. She deserved better. So Claire always put some money aside whenever possible to fund something resembling an education.

For a time things finally seemed to be looking up. Claire had somehow managed to land a well-off boyfriend and Phoebe was in college. In time however, Claire’s boyfriend proved he was not the knight in shining armor she once thought he was. As he proved more abusive and began to isolate Claire, Phoebe decided to repay her sister for all those years of protection. One sticky summer night, Claire had been in the middle of taking out the garbage when Phoebe, wild-eyed and desperate, told her to stay away from the apartment as she herself rushed. However, Claire did not do as she was told. Instead she followed, to find her sister stopping and slowing time. But Phoebe was clumsy, and struggling. Claire heard something, something that told her act. So she did. She stabbed her boyfriend through the heart. Realizing they would be wanted for murder, they buried the body and ran.

The Dryden sisters are now a mage and hunter on the run, and neither quite know what they’re doing, only that it’s them against the world. Constantly on the road and breaking the law to survive, the two act as a team. The question is, however, how long can they keep running? And how long before they will need to seek help for their growing powers?

Weapons/Talismans
Knife-a silver-edged knife Claire looted off the corpse of a Witch-Hunter that had attempted to kill Phoebe, grants +2 Melee
Pearly Pistol-a pretty piece Claire lifted when she and her sister broke into a gunshop, grants +2 to Firearms
Blood Oath-a pendant given to Claire by her mother, who made her promise to protect her sister at any cost. Grants +1 to Intimidation and Survival
Disadvantages
Cynic-If Claire has learned one thing in life, it's that nothing comes for free and you can't trust anyone. This has resulted in Claire having a rather jaded and confrontational attitude. -1 to Charisma and Diplomacy
At the Edge-due to her sister's being a mage, Claire has always kept other hunters at arms' length for fear of harm coming to her. As such, she remains somewhat cagey and ignorant regarding the inner workings of hunter society, whether it be among the imbued or otherwise.

Scent: Mary Read Perfume Oil