Sailor Hestia

Name: Jane Elizabeth Brown, called "Jane", but never "Janey"

Nickname: Her family sometimes jokingly calls her "Mama", due to her eagerness to herd and take care of her little sisters. Her friends, however, have taken to calling her Jeb ("J"ane "E"lizabeth "B"rown) or "Jebi".

Meaning:
Jane- English version of Jehanne, Old French feminine form of John, from Hebrew, "God is Gracious", chosen in honor of both Jane Seymour and Jane Austen

Elizabeth- From Elisheva, Hebrew, "God's Oath" or "God is my Abundance", for Elizabeth I

Brown- English, the color, originally a nickname for a person who had brown hair or skin.

(While I had originally intended to simply give her a rather dry, ordinary name, I find that the name suits her sphere. Graciousness and abundance are valued in a home and Hestia did swear an oath on the head of Zeus to remain chaste.)

Gender: Female
Age: 19
Birth Date: October 7th (Libra)
Blood Type: A-
Birth Place: Dayton, Ohio
Occupation: (if any) Student, with a part time job stocking at Target.
Student Involvements: None, yet, though that may change in the future.
Academic Standing: First Year Freshman (she waited a year before going away to college)
Majors/Minors: Food Business Management Major

Schedule:
College Algebra 104 (Monday and Wednesday) 4 credits
Jane isn't fond of Algebra but would never dream of skipping a class. She mostly sits and doodles, trying to listen or at least stay conscious. She sometimes sneaks a little needlepoint or something under the desk in an attempt to stay awake.

Western Civilization: Antiquity to the 17th Century (Tuesday and Thursday) 5 credits
Not quite so boring, but all the facts and dates make Jane dizzy. She forces herself to keep taking notes here, so she can remember enough to pass. The students here can remember Jane only because they know they can beg her for notes they've lost.

Russian 101 (Wednesday and Friday) 5 credits
This class may very well be the death of Jane, but she refuses to admit defeat. She calls up her friend Katja in Annapolis for help every so often, but mostly puts tons of effort into it alone. She fights for every A, though people may find her sobbing over the Cyrillic alphabet on Tuesday night.

Agricultural Survey (Wednesday) 1 credit
Jane thinks of this class as her duty. It's certainly easy, but that only makes it even more tedious, because it takes her less brainpower. This is another class that she does handwork in, hoping to keep her eyes open.

Work (Thursday, 4:00 to 9:00, Saturday, 7:00 to 12:00)
Jane can usually be found in her pristine uniform bright and early at Target, hopping like a crazed rabbit to get a box on a shelf or carting new shipments about. She's a bundle of energy, despite the early start hour, though this maybe due to the enormous thermos of coffee she's seen with on her break. The other employees hardly know her, vaguely managing to recall that her section was impeccable and that some chick shows up for pay checks. What's her name? Jenny? June?

Likes:
Perfume, Scented Candles, Potpourri and Incense- Jane is a nut for anything that smells pretty. She loves unusual and exotic perfumes, which she wears every day. If she can't light a scented candle or incense in her room, she puts out little bowls of homemade potpourri to keep her space smelling nice.

Russian Culture- Jane's best friend throughout school was a Russian girl named Katja, who introduced her to the warm and lively culture of her homeland. Jane is now an avid fan of all things Russian and has even broken down to learn the language, seeing as she barely squeezed through French. If you see her drinking something green, it's not absinthe, it's tarragon soda.

Victoriana- The Victorian period was a time of decadent charm and produced literature and fashions that have Jane spellbound. If she could get away with wearing hoops and bustles to class, she probably would at least once in a while. As it is, she contents herself with books, movies and jewelry, regretting being born too late.

Penny Dreadfuls (dime novels)- Jane actually likes being scared silly and will sit up and read Lovecraft and Poe long after everyone else is asleep. She thinks most modern writers are cheap imitations and will scoff at reading Stephen King and Anne Rice. She's even tried writing a few, though only one has ever been worth publishing to her mind.

Horror Films- The cheesier the better! Jane loves to feel her heart race in the safe confines of her living room and many a squeak of surprise is followed by a delighted giggle. Her tastes run more towards the psychological scare, however. Blood is overdone and generally tasteless.

Tea and Coffee Paraphernalia- To Jane, tea and coffee are symbols of hospitality and friendship. She collects odd little bits, like silver coffee pots from Morocco and tea glasses from Russia, usually turning them into vases or filling them with colored glass and fancy pins.

Hats- Jane's hair isn't exactly luxurious and stylish, so Jane has taken to covering her head with various scarves and old-fashioned hats. She has a few truly silly ones, like the glittery red witch hat with the lacy black veil and her Easter bonnet with the beanbag bunnies attached. But her favorite is an old, soft gray cloche with a black ribbon band and a black rose pinned to the bow.

Barbecue- Barbecue is a much harder thing than it sounds. It takes patience, perseverance and a really good recipe. Jane considers herself a Barbecue gourmet and is constantly on the look out for a better sauce recipe than the ones she has.

Natural Food- Jane isn't a rabid health food nut, but she happily admits that organic whole wheat flour makes her honey wheat bread taste better and free-range chicken seems to grill up better. If she can afford it, Jane will go out of her way to buy her "dirty hippy treats".

Old-School Jazz- Old jazz and blues are mellow reminders that even sadness has its merits. Jane will pop in Etta James or Ray Charles when she feels really rotten and it usually perks her up.

Swing- Jane is an okay swing dancer, though it helps that she's short and light enough to be pitched about by most partners. But she loves the sense of fun swing has. She'll only dance if there's other people doing it, but she'll gladly take someone by the hand and dance holes in her shoes until the party winds down.

Hello Kitty- She's cute, she's versatile and she's everywhere. Jane has only a few Hello Kitty things, but she looks forward to the day she can have more without bruising her wallet.

Fairy Tales- Especially Cinderella. Jane adores a good-old-fashioned fairy tale and, while Disney is all fine and dandy, she likes the older, less sugary ones. There's something terribly pleasant about wicked queens dancing to death in red-hot shoes.

Dislikes:
Bad Smells- Jane has a very keen nose and any scent of food spoilage or anything else unsanitary makes her stomach turn. Cheap perfume makes her cough for the same reason. This why she always wears expensive or homemade perfume and why nothing she cooks is ever inedible.

Being Blatantly Noticeable- Jane is very shy and has made hiding in plain sight an art form. Her philosophy is that people who make themselves obvious are asking for trouble. She actually gets nervous when people stare at her and will flee the first chance she gets.

Toilet Humor- Jane is fairly highbrow in her sense of humor. She finds toilet humor to be especially nauseating and juvenile. She will leave the room if poop comes into the conversation strictly for laughs and avoid all mention of bathrooms if she thinks she's in a crowd that will take it and run.

Spiders- One of Jane's classmates dropped a spider down her shirt in kindergarten. It wasn't poisonous, but it bit her twice and scared her badly. The worst part for her was the fact that in her thrashing, she killed it. She understands that spiders have a place in the food chain, but she'd much rather that place was, at least fifty feet away.

Laziness- Jane detests people who just sit around. Even quadriplegics can stay occupied somehow, and people who have no excuse are making more jobs for everyone else. She's no workaholic, but she does believe in pulling your own weight.

Her Glasses- Jane can't read a word or drive without coke-bottle glasses that are forever being dropped and scratched at best. She hates them with a passion, but can't bring herself to get rid of them until she can afford Lasik or until they come out with contacts that will work as well her glasses. You'll never catch her with a glasses strap either, out of some small degree of bashful vanity.

Hybrid Fruit- Jane despises grapples, Asian pears, and all those other weird fruit crossbreeds that are on the market. She realizes there's a market, but half the time they don't taste like they should and the other half, they're bland and tasteless. Who wants their lunchbox to smell like grape soda anyway?

Alcohol- Jane might drink a little wine or GOOD liquor if offered, but she honestly can't hold her drink worth pins. She's a clumsy drunk and a stupid one, too. Besides, it's all just various juices gone bad in a stylish fashion, so the smell makes her ill. If it's clearly an honor, she will breathe through her mouth and nurse it down as best she can.

Dark Streets- Even before Jane went to college, Jane was terrified of being out alone after dark. Her cowardice stems from her addiction to horror, because generally the token scream queen is out alone after dark and ends up dead or possessed.

Being in Charge- Jane can stand to be a background sheepdog, putting the crowd in motion and then blending in. But the idea of being team captain or even second in command is enough to paralyze Jane with fear.

Dumb Guy Stuff- It's Jane's belief that boys are brain damaged for at least eighteen years of their lives. This doesn't excuse the rest of that time. Jane's naturally sweet nature always has her cleaning up the remains of beer pong or driving her drunken idiot male friend to the ER for something best patched up and forgotten.

Whiners- If you're wasting breath on complaining, you aren't working. Jane hates it when people bitch and moan without trying to solve the situation. People who talk too much while working are just as irritating. It's enough to make the usually patient Jane lose her temper and snap at people, but she feels awful about it later and usually needs a clove afterwards to soothe her nerves.

Sports Bars- They reek of booze and people doing stupid things for stupid reasons. Jane is occasionally forced to follow the crowd into such an establishment. When this happens, she orders herself a Shirley Temple, grins as best she can and prays nobody pukes on her shoes.

Hobbies:
Embroidery, Knitting, Baking, Cooking, "Scribbling" Scary Stories, Flower Arranging, Collecting Antique Jewelry, Reading Fairy Tales and Ghost Stories, Mixing Her Own Perfume, Digging Up Old Recipes

Skills:
Natural Camouflage- Jane blends into a crowd with frightening skill. One would think that with her old-fashioned clothing, she would be easy to point out. But she can just duck into a group and vanish. There has to be a fairly large group, like the after dinner crowd outside the movie theater or a bunch of people moving in and out of a building. Any less than eight people and she can't do it.

What's-er-face- Maybe this is a disadvantage, but people have a hard time remembering Jane's name. It takes three reminders even for people who are good with names. It's a good thing because Jane does her best work when no-one really knows she's there. It's a bad thing because people are forever shouting "Hey, you" to call her over until they remember her name.

Cold Hands, Warm Heart- Jane doesn't get cold as easily as everyone else. While everybody else is putting on light sweaters and windbreakers, Jane is just beginning to contemplate long sleeves. On the flip side, there's not much middle ground for Jane. When she does begin to feel cold, she feels COLD and will bundle up to the eyebrows to keep warm. Otherwise, she shivers herself sick.

Hearth Wisdom- Jane is full of little hints for housework, superstitions, home remedies and pithy sayings learned from being raised by two generations of McGowan and Brown women. This is mere fluff, most of the time, but one or two tips are worth trying.

Like a House on Fire- Never in a million years would Jane even consider burning a house down. But she will gaze at a lit candle until her eyes ache and has more than once set her marshmallow ablaze on a camping trip just for giggles. She likes watching things burn and loves the smell of smoke, no matter what kind. She will even smoke a clove cigarette about once every two months, once a month if she's been having a rough time, but she still has the same box she bought in January of this year, so she does try to be sensible. After a truly trying day, she can be found outside with a box of matches and a bowl of water, striking them, blowing them out and dropping them in the bowl.

Most people don't see Jane. She happens to have one of those presences that people overlook, a small, plain creature tucked into a corner with a book or embroidery hoop with little to say and less to create a fuss with. She is usually soft-spoken and gentle, taking great care in her words and actions. Those who do take notice of her or stop to speak with her might find that her quiet nature is tempered with inquisitiveness, a warm heart and a playful, sharp wit. She rarely lets herself show anger or offence, twisting any insult that rises to her lips into a clever, cheerful, though frequently weak comeback in public or simply cursing under her breath.

Jane is by no means a loner, however. She likes to be around people and surrounded by comfort, leading her to coffee shops, bookstores, and parks in search of interesting folk to talk with. She will follow friends to a party or club and maybe even dance if there's a good crowd on the floor. The trouble is that, while she is fond of having company, she isn't thrilled with being obvious or even noticed and can't figure out how to be noticeable. She has grown quite accustomed to being background, an extra in a crowd scene. She may add a little flavor or another warm body, but she's pretty much a nobody and doesn't flatter herself by thinking otherwise.

Beneath the silence and shyness, lies a vivid, effervescent imagination. As a child, this led to nightmares and her fear of what lurks in the dark has never gone away. Nowadays, she channels this wild creativity into writing; creating worlds where her mind can frolic and let her get a full night's rest. She has a morbid fascination with "wickedness" and the darker side of humanity, folk magic and hearth wisdom. She loves a good ghost story told by the fire at night and a touch of gossip about who's done what awful thing. Much of her writing, generally done under a dramatic pen name, is based off of a truly juicy urban legend. She would never outright admit to her writing and if anyone confronted her with it, she would most likely avert her eyes, blush and mumble something about "what? Those potboilers? Scribbles, just silly little scribbles. Don't pay 'em a cent's worth of notice."

Many people would never suspect that "Plain Jane" is a wannabe gothic author. She bakes and cooks, cleans and sews and appears to be a suburban Soccer Mom in the making, more Carol Brady than Sylvia Plath. She loves to do domestic things and dreams of having a home, a family, and her own caf�, which she wants to flamboyantly name "Brigid's Cloak" after a favorite Irish folk tale. Her eagerness to keep busy is rooted in her belief that laziness is the sign of a weak mind. If given the chance and not watched carefully, Jane will work herself to exhaustion. She won't admit to weariness, once again, out of fear that she will be seen as a weakling.

Jane realizes she's not the sort of girl who stops clocks. While she does occasionally feel a pang of regret, she doesn't dwell on her awkward looks. Rather, she figures that if she can't be beautiful, she can at least be clever and a good person. She reads voraciously and volunteers wherever she can. She has a weak spot for a sob story and for little kids, meaning she is easily suckered into doing things for people. She doesn't care if people notice her work. She isn't out for recognition. But, Jane realizes that she feels better about herself if she's doing something constructive and helpful. She just tries to slip away before people start handing out praise.

Few people believe that someone as drab and easily overlooked as Jane would be willing to let herself just vanish into the background. But the truth is, Jane likes it that way. She's timid and hates the spotlight. She's too afraid that she'll become the object of ridicule once everybody is watching her. If she must accept notice, she much prefers a quiet pat on the back than a medal. Even then, she'll just smile, say "you're welcome," and go back to work on something else just as important to her.

The idea of being the leader of anything scares Jane senseless. She can stand to be behind the scenes and in charge, but, when everybody wants her to give commands, she freezes with a wide-eyed look of confusion. She is perfectly loyal, until command proves itself to be incompetent, but she will then hand the torch to someone else. Anyone who tries to tell her she'd make a good leader is shrugged off with a quiet, stubborn refusal.

Secretive? No, not really, she loves to talk if someone is willing to listen. She can be a motor mouth, in fact. But she likes to listen, too. Jane is happy to let people bitch to her about their problems, even if she isn't much help. She may drop a bit of harmless advice like, "my grandma says that men are like dogs; dumb but trainable." But she never gets involved in fights between people. Once again, her fear of being obvious is to blame, though not entirely. She's also afraid of having to choose sides or being too meddlesome. There's always the chance she'll pick the losing side, alienate the losers or simply screw everything up. She has chosen to remain Mythos partly because the AMO scares her and partly because she feels Rage is nothing but a great big bully with phenomenal cosmic power.

Hair- Jane's hair is limp and baby-fine, refusing to hold anything more than a light wave, let alone any kind of curl. Its natural color is a light mousy brown with wheat colored highlights and she wears it cut to just past her shoulders in two French braids. She doesn't have bangs, though occasional strands escape and hang unceremoniously around her face, giving her a careless, unkempt look. When it's loose, you can see that she gives herself trims, so the ends are uneven in a very inartistic way. She usually wears bandanas and scarves in her hair and loves to wear hats.

Face- Jane has a fairly unremarkable face for the most part, a small, pink mouth with braces almost ready to come off and a long beaky nose. She is pale and burns and freckles, but never tans. The most prominent feature is her eyes. They are a color somewhere between brown and gray, with thick glasses for reading. She hopes to someday be able to afford corrective surgery. Her eyebrows go unplucked across a high forehead, usually until her sisters hold her down and pluck them for her.

Build- Jane is rather gangly, standing 5'2" in her bare feet and weighing 115 lbs. She has very little curve, especially in the hips. She has to wear pants a few sizes too big with the cuffs rolled up or men's pants. Most people would believe she was constantly sick, but her thinness is merely due to a heck of a metabolism. Her arms and legs are long and spindly, ending in long hands and feet.

Clothing- Jane tends to dress in muted or faded colors, with the occasional jewel tone or shade of pink thrown in. Her style is old-fashioned yet more timeless than unfashionable, favoring long lines and lots of lace or the professional look. She's also quite fond of vintage or vintage look jewelry, floral prints and plaids. She almost never wears skirts shorter than knee length, fearing that they make her legs look scrawny.

Voice- Jane's voice is rather high and breathy, a light soprano shading towards coloratura (very high operatic range). She doesn't talk much, but when she does, she speaks softly and her speech is sprinkled with literary quotes, a side effect of her excessive reading.

Carriage- Jane tends to slouch a bit and keeps her chin tilted down usually, unless she's talking to someone particularly tall, in which case, her shortness forces her to look up. She moves quickly and efficiently, with few extraneous motions. She always seems meek in public, usually folding her hands in front of her or tucking them in her pockets. In private, she becomes less guarded and lets herself move more openly, often talking with her hands and occasionally affecting rather old-fashioned and girlish mannerisms.

Extras- Jane rarely wears any more makeup than a little bit of lipstick or lip balm and a little mascara. As has been mentioned, she loves hats and headscarves. She rarely goes out in public without a bit of perfume on. Jewelry-wise, she doesn't wear much, apart from a pair of small silver stud earrings, a string of pearls or a brooch.

Daniel and Elaine Brown were high school sweethearts, married out of college and expecting their first when Elaine discovered an interest in English history and literature. She read everything in the local library on the subject and became obsessed with the Tudor rulers of England and with English female authors. So when choosing a name for her child, she managed to get Daniel to agree to Owen Henry for a boy and Jane Elizabeth for a girl.

After a quick, easy labor, Jane Elizabeth Brown quietly slipped into the world on October 14th. She was a peaceful child, prepossessed and intelligent, with a willingness to help out and a fascination with books. The Brown family had two more daughters in the next four years, Catherine Emily and Mary Louisa. Jane was fascinated by the babies and played with them a lot in place of children her own age, leading her family to call her "Little Mother".

Preschool was an adventure in acceptance for Jane. Many kids were afraid of her at first because of her eyes, but once she proved to be harmless, they left her alone. She tended to play by herself, though she would cooperate with the other children if forced. But, she wasn't entirely alone. She made a friend in Russian �migr�, Katja Mikhailova, and, while neither girl could speak the other's language, they managed to communicate enough to become quite close. The two went through grade school together like sisters, Jane helping Katja practice English and Katja providing Jane with a whole new world view.

In 1st grade, Katja started playing soccer and, like a Siamese twin, Jane followed. However, while Katja embraced it and played like a pro, Jane was always lagging behind. She wasn't as fast or as energetic as the other children and would often be left in the dust. The coach was perhaps less than understanding but tried to be kind when he made it clear that perhaps Jane just didn't have the drive to play sports. Jane has never held any hard feelings towards Katja or the coach. She did, however, begin to harbor a hatred of sluggishness.

Junior High and Early High School was a lonely time for Jane. She and Katja were still close, but now Katja had other, more outgoing friends. Many afternoons, Jane would sit on the sidelines, trying to get in on the action, but being left behind by the crowd time and again. In frustration, Jane turned to cooking and baking with her mother and grandmothers. She began to absorb the words of the Brown and McGowan women as well as their recipes. Finally, in High School, Jane decided she had found her place in life. She had let Katja and a few other people taste her food and, after being told that she made the best damn coffee cake in Dayton, began to dream of owning a caf�.

Jane tries not to talk about high school much more than that, but if pressed, she will mention that during Sophomore year, she had a short story published. It was a ghost story, entitled "Stronger Than Death" and was published under the pseudonym "Ivanka S. Romanova". She won 25 bucks for it and a quiet, anonymous praise that had her walking taller for at least a few days. She continued to write, though, nothing has ever quite matched it and she doesn't dare try again.

In her Junior year, Jane was driving home from school and nearly hit something small and black on the road. It was a puppy, a small, undernourished creature, which had already had its back left leg broken and set badly. She found the puppy farm nearby, and, in outrage, anonymously called the ASPCA before taking the pup home. She offered to payback the vet bills from her allowance, if her parents would just let her stay. They agreed and, three days later, the newly dubbed "Constance de Flanders of Brownstone" was asleep at the foot of Jane's bed.

At first, Constance was a sickly dog, but Jane wasn't going to give up on the one thing that noticed her no matter what. She rose early to walk her, snuck her table scraps to fatten her up and even simply sat with her, reading to her and watching TV with the dog's head in her lap. The rest of the family found it comical, but Jane was in love and refused to back away. By the time Jane graduated from High School, Constance was a beautiful specimen of her breed and the most amiable dog on the block.

Jane was a year late applying for college, instead working for that time in a bakery with her mother to earn the money to survive. Even so, she still applied for a stock job at Target and worries that she might not be able to afford college after a while. Pride has so far kept her from applying for financial aid, but the Greek Life is suddenly looking very tempting.

Ashley Spenser- Jane's roommate is half-Korean, but is as American as apple pie. Ashley is 18 and has dyed her short spiky hair cherry red, which looks striking against her golden skin, almond green eyes and rather slight and slim. She's currently undeclared, but looks like she's going for a Physical Education degree. She's a bit loud and into reality T.V. and extreme sports. Jane likes her because she will taste-test anything and frequently does.

Yesenia Gomez- Jane's other roommate is from San Antonio, though she grew up in Cincinnati. Yesenia is 18 with luxurious black hair, enormous brown eyes, and skin the color of caf� au lait. She's majoring in Social Work and is looking forward to a job as a therapist. She's a motormouth and has more melodrama packed into one fingernail than most actresses.

Ekaterina "Katja" Mikhailova- Jane's best friend, now attending college at St. John's College in Annapolis, is a heartbreakingly beautiful girl of 20. Her thick platinum blond hair is usually worn in a French twist, revealing bright blue-green eyes and a serene oval face with the features of a Michelangelo Virgin Mary. She plays the cello and cooks like a demon. She writes or calls Jane about once a week. Her sense of humor is drier than a good martini and her sense of style is classy, sending Jane into spasms of envy every time they meet face to face.

Elaine Margaret McGowan Brown- Kind people say Jane looks like her mother, and perhaps she will, someday, if she can get her teeth and eyes straightened. Elaine Brown is a striking woman in her early 40's, with soft light brown hair and light brown eyes, slightly built like Jane, yet rounder and softer. She is deeply interested in English history and works as a caterer.

Daniel Francis Brown- Jane's father has the look of an Irish pub owner, despite his job as a Chemistry teacher in a public high school. His hair is bright ginger red and thinning, and his eyes are bright cobalt blue. Daniel is also a rather large man, who is given to wearing rather silly ties with Marvin the Martian or other cartoon characters on them. He used to play football and still keeps track of the Buckeyes during Football Season.

Catherine Emily Brown- Jane's middle sister is 17 and looks like her father, with red hair (currently purple) and blue eyes. Catherine, or "Kit", belongs to a garage band called "The Atlantean Revolution" as a bassist. She's a bit abrasive, but most of her bitchiness is just her way of puffing herself up. She has a tattoo of a rose on her butt from a trip to Virginia Beach that her parents don't know about. Jane helped her get it and doesn't dare tell them.

Mary Louisa Brown- Jane's youngest sister is 15 and frequently accused of being "the Pretty One". She has brown hair and blue eyes and is on her school's swim team. Mary is also into martial arts, plays piano and has aspirations of joining the Navy. She is currently dating the boy next door and gushes about him every twenty minutes. Just like Jane won't accept the nickname "Janey", neither will Mary allow anyone to call her "Mary Lou".

Constance- Jane's dog is a great big lovable hairball, a black Bouvier de Flanders with a slight back leg limp. Constance is actually supposed to be the family dog, but Jane's bed is the only bed she'll sleep on. Jane holds her up as proof that there is such a thing as unconditional love in the world. Constance…Well, Constance chews on Jane's old sneakers and lovingly slobbers on Jane's things in response.

Alignment: MYTHOS
Name: Sailor Hestia
Element(s) of Influence: The Hearth, Fire, Sacrifice
Symbol: The symbol of the asteroid, Vesta--two v's nesting one inside another, the lower one having a line branching off of either end. Rising from the upper v is a single s-curve.
Challenge: "If you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen!"

UNIFORM
Locket: The top of the locket is silver and is etched with a ring of golden flames. Hestia's symbol is in the center in relief, surrounded by a circle of smoky quartz and amber cabochons. The bottom half is gold and looks slightly scorched inside like a well-used fire bowl.
Color Scheme: Charcoal gray (#C0C0C0) and amber gold (#FFBF00)
Description: Sailor Hestia's laurels rest atop a gauzy gray silk veil, holding it in place. The veil wraps around her neck like a cowl and gives her a slight "Virgin Mary" look. Delicate silver earrings with amber drops hang from her ears. Her sailor collar and her overdress below the bust is charcoal gray and her bow is golden yellow. The sleeves hang to the first knuckle of her thumb and she has only short, wrist length gloves. Her shoes are somewhat clunky looking gray granny boots with a thick heel.

ABILITIES
Transformation: Hestia Power, Make-Up!
Description: Jane thrusts her locket high and shouts her transformation phrase. It pops open and streamers of golden fire spill out. The flames wind around her and circle her feet, turning into gray stones and creating a "Hearth". The hearth builds up around her sparkling white silhouette and encloses Jane in a small stone house. The stones then explode and vanish, revealing Sailor Hestia who spins three times and stops with her arms spread wide, with her left foot pointing forward. Usually, she ends up staggering away as though still dizzy.

Ember Sanctuary!
Description: Hestia raises her hands and begins to glow with a bright golden light. Suddenly, she bursts into flames and seems to crumble into a pile of glowing coals. Everything within a ten-foot radius of the Hestia-barbecue becomes 10 degrees warmer and is protected from magical attacks. Her allies' attacks gain the "fire" element as a bonus as long as they're within that ten-foot range. Hestia can do nothing in this state, nor can she see or hear. If she is kicked or stepped on, she reconstitutes with a large bruise where the damage was supposedly dealt. She can only do this once every five minutes and it only lasts for a minute, leaving her winded and dizzy. Due to the warmth element, Hestia hesitates to use this on a hot day.

Special Skills, Traits or Innate Magical Abilities:
Where there's smoke…- Hestia gives off the smell of wood smoke and if she gets angry enough, her ears start to smoke like a cheesed off cartoon character. This is really a bit of a nuisance as it bleeds over into her mortal life, making her smell like smoke for a half hour after she's been in a battle.

Fireproof- If Hestia is hit with natural fire, she only gets scorched. It may hurt and her uniform may catch fire, but the rest of her is fine, if a little sooty. Fire based magical attacks will affect her as though she were a normal person, however.

Weapon: (if any) None, currently

--Hestia's sisters come for a campus visit, only to be used as bait for an AMO trap. In the ensuing battle, both Kit and Mary are hurt. Hestia is so furious, she powers up, allowing her to rescue both of them.

--Hestia's teammates manage to get her drunk one night and send her out on a dare to publish her worst story. She then spends the next hungover morning trying to convince the publishers to give it back. Eventually, someone actually reads it and realizes it's the worst tripe ever, handing it back. Satisfied that she has evaded public scrutiny, Hestia burns the story and begins anew.

--Hestia begins to overcome her bashfulness. At some point, she will give herself a makeover, and, while not amazingly beautiful, will prove to be kind of cute. Her newfound confidence gives her the guts to finally ask one of the Mythos fellas out on a date.

Educated Insolence

Jane scanned the envelope listlessly. It wasn't Katja. It was addressed to "Ms. Jane E. Brown" and she was fairly sure she didn't know anyone from any "MYTHOS Organization." She turned it over and held it to the light. There was nothing untoward that she could see, unless someone had figured out how to make a bomb that looked like a sheet of paper. She tucked it into her pocket and picked up her last few things. It was all just hats now and she'd already had to leave nine of them in her closet when she went back. Four hatboxes dangled from her hands, tied together in pairs with sage green ribbon. She stepped into the elevator with another girl and let out a sigh of relief. Finally, she was coming home.

Jane snuck a glance at the other girl. If one cared for the hip-hop diva look, then the girl was a great beauty. She was dark and curvy, with a fuchsia pout sucking on a lollipop and sleepy coffee cup eyes. The smell of a cheap knockoff of designer perfume reached Jane and she tried not to cough. Suddenly the girl turned to look at Jane. She gave Jane a once over and frowned.

"Girl," she drawled, "This ain't Chicago." With that, the elevator doors opened and she strode out. Jane watched sadly as her hips swung away until the doors closed.

When Jane thought it was safe, she allowed herself to mutter, "bitch". She took off her hat, a soft gray felt cloche with a black ribbon. It was her favorite, a birthday gift from the year before. Surely, there was nothing wrong with it. It was sensible, for Christ's sake!

She snorted and clapped the hat back on her head. Anyway, modern fashion changed too much for her taste. The elevator door opened again and she stepped out with her chin out as much as she dared, hatboxes in hand.

Her roommates, Yesenia and Ashley, were arguing about something they'd seen on TV.

"Yeah, but, see—Oh, Jane!" gasped Yesenia, "What do you think of the new Survivor?"

"Survivor?" echoed Jane, "Um…well… I haven't been paying attention." She tried to duck into the hub room, but stopped when Ashley piped up.

"They're splitting the teams up by racial distinction," she said indignantly, "It's awful!"

"They're just gonna mix together later!" said Yesenia.

"It's racist!"

"It's new!"

"What does it matter?" asked Jane. The two roommates stopped and looked at her. "I mean, it's a gimmick, right? They need a new one every season. Next one will probably be in the Arctic or something. Who really cares?" Then she realized they were staring at her.

Her cheeks suddenly turned red. "Um…Sorry," she mumbled, "I'll just, er, go and, read my mail." She dove through the hub and into the cramped dorm room. With a sigh of relief, she slipped the hat boxes under the bed and kicked off her shoes. Jane's cheeks were still hot and her palms felt clammy. She wiped them off on her pants and flopped onto the lower bunk, rolling over to remove the envelope from her pocket.

"Ms. Jane E. Brown, Room 524, Morrill Tower." It was certainly unexpected. She had been toying with the idea of joining a sorority as a cure for social and financial difficulties. Shyness had stood in the way of actually doing anything, however. Now, it seemed Providence was thumping her on the head.

She held the envelope over her head and tore it open. Before unfolding the letter, though, she paused. Her hands were shaking. She forced herself to stop and unfolded the paper.

"Congratulations," it said, in large script at the top of the page. It went on to tell her that she had been nominated—how and why weren't specified—and accepted to the Mythos Organization. She was to take the enclosed locket to President Gerri Atrycs at her office to gain admission.

THWACK! Something heavy struck her forehead. She yelped and shook her head to clear it of the stars. Jane reached up to rub her head. Her wrist brushed something warm and smooth. Confused, she picked it up and stared at it.

The something was half golden, half silver and etched with flames. It looked like it should open, but no amount of tugging and prying would pop the two halves apart. Jane sat up and turned it over in her hand. There was no marking to tell her who it belonged to or where it came from. It certainly hadn't come from the envelope. Right?

She picked up the letter and read it again.

"There must be some mistake," she whispered. Yes, that was it, there was some other Jane E. Brown and they'd gotten mixed up. She'd just go over and clear it up. Jane pulled on her shoes and grabbed her purse and hat. She stopped at the door. She'd almost forgotten the one last thing needed to make the tiny room home.

She took from her drawer a sampler that she propped up against a teapot on the windowsill. The legend read, "Wit is Educated Insolence."

She hoped that some day she'd have the balls to make it her motto.