Suriel, Angel of Souls - Dr. Johanna Seeleman

The Mundane

Profile

Birth Name: Johanna Brigit Seelemann

Meaning of name: Johanna is the German feminine form of John, "God is Gracious." Brigit means "strong." Seelemann is, literally, "Soul man" in German, more or less...but it does have the advantage of being a real last name.

Angelic Identity: Suriel, Angel of Souls

Place in the Spheres: Dr. J. B. Seelemann just got her Ph.D. in European History and is in her first year as an Assistant Professor at the University of London.

Age: 24

Birthdate/Astrology: September 28th - Libra sun, Taurus moon, Aquarius rising

Likes:

• things being neat: Johanna isn't obsessive over cleanliness, but she comes close. She keeps things organized and is good about washing dishes after they're used. Cleaning gives her mind a chance to wander.
• classical music: it's about all Johanna listens to. Nothing made in the last 50 years can compare to the great compositions of the past.
• books: Johanna loves literature and history, and almost always has a book in her hand--on the bus, on the train, in her house, at work, wherever. She'll at least try to read anything that's recommended to her, and has quite the extensive bookshelf in her flat.
• museums: Any kind of museum, art or historical, is a place where Johanna could spend a happy day. Old things interest her.
• old castles, and things of historical value: This kind of goes along with her love of museums - Johanna likes to be able to lose herself in the past.
• rainy days: she should be quite happy in London. She likes listening to the rain and watching it fall.
• the Alps: this brings back memories of old family vacations and quiet times; she loves nature, though she's not really a "go out and rough it in the woods" sort of person. Hiking with her family is about as far as she goes.

Dislikes:

• things being out of place: okay, so we're only bordering on obsessive-compulsive here; she likes to know where to find things. She won't go crazy if she can't find something, but it will bug her when she sees something that is out of the proper order.
• loud music and noises: Headache. The world seems so unnecessarily loud to Johanna, especially when she is trying to read. Sirens and other sudden, loud noises make her jump.
• driving: Well, she doesn't have a license to drive in England, so she doesn't have to worry about it too much here, but Johanna is the sort of driver who thinks every other car is out to get her. And on the Autobahn, when you're going 150 kph in the slow lane, that's perhaps not a bad viewpoint to have...
• crowded places: Johanna likes her personal space. Being around lots of people makes her nervous, and when she gets nervous, her English is the first thing to go (at least, so she thinks), and then she gets embarrassed. She doesn't mind it so much if she's not pressed into the crowd, but put her on a subway that's crammed and she's going to be a bit shaky.

Hobbies:

• Reading: Johanna reads both fiction and nonfiction--she tends towards histories, literary journals, and essays on history and literature, but if one of her colleages suggests a new novel, she'll pick it up.
• Writing: Well, she hasn't gotten to the writing stage yet, actually; she's in the process of collecting notes for her first book, which examines some legends and the historical explanations for them, and the things history can't explain. She's also written a few articles that have appeared in historical journals.

Aspirations/Dreams: Johanna's dream is to solve all the unsolved mysteries of history. It's a tall order, and she seriously knows that it is not gonna happen, but deep down, that's what she wants to do. She'd also like to publish some books and get some respect for her work.

NPCs

Jürgen Seeleman: Johanna's 19-year-old brother. He's a student at the University of London, a math whiz, anime and video game fan. He lives with his older sister because it's cheaper for his parents and because they want her to look after him. For the most part, he hasn't been too much trouble. He looks a lot like his older sister, but his hair is a darker blue, and his eyes more brown than red. Altogether, he's a decent-looking young man, and something of a flirt.

Jeffrey Ivelson: A 22-year-old law student. His undergraduate degree is in physics, but he feels compelled to become an attorney so he can protect people who need help. Dorky, easygoing, and brilliant, Jeff is also a scatterbrain and a klutz, but his heart's in the right place.

Katie Hanson: Johanna's penpal in Canada, now 26 years old. Will most likely stay in Canada unless she needs to be abused for a plotline.

History

Johanna was born in Vienna, Austria to a pretty average set of parents. Five years later her younger brother Jürgen joined the family and brought it to its current capacity.

Though she was always studious and thoughtful, she wasn't a loner--she almost always had friends that shared her interests. There was enough of an age gap between Johanna and her brother that they didn't fight much, though they had a few conflicts. Johanna was generally more easygoing than Jurgen, not to mention better behaved.

Her teachers liked her and she got good grades, and in her spare time she read everything she could find and wrote letters to Katie, her penpal in Canada. They were assigned to each other through a class project. Despite the fact that both had very limited knowledge of the other's language when they started writing, they hit it off and have continued their correspondence for nine years.

To read as much as she wanted, Johanna had to learn more English than she was taught in school. However, though she's very good at reading English, she's not sure of herself when it comes to speaking.

As soon as their parents would let them, Johanna and Jürgen started traveling together during their school vacations, taking trains and staying in youth hostels. Jürgen's chief interest was nature, while Johanna wanted to see ancient ruins and castles. They've gotten lost, lost their tickets or money, and missed trains so many times that they've lost track, mostly thanks to Jürgen's disorganized manner (although he would point out that Johanna wasn't much help in those situations, either).

Johanna never really admitted it--if she was even aware of it--but however interesting the places were, she still felt disappointed, as if she hadn't found what she was looking for. It was something she couldn't put into words, sort of like her soul-sight, and sometimes she wondered if it was all just her imagination. Sometimes she'd get flashes of familiarity--at the Cathedral in Cologne, for example--but she couldn't grasp anything concrete.

She studied literature and history at the University of Salzburg, then the University of London's Goldsmiths College. She received her doctorate in European History last year and was offered a position teaching at the University of London. Then, Jurgen received a scholarship for mathematics and came to live with her in London. This year she's teaching two sessions of a freshman-level European History survey course.

Johanna would say she prefers to live a quiet domestic life in her flat with her brother, but there's still discontent and loneliness inside her.

Personality

Johanna only speaks after careful consideration of her words. She is serious, soft-spoken, and compelling; this is the reason, perhaps, that she is not widely viewed as some sort of crackpot for her conclusions. She also makes sure any theories she puts forward can be backed up with careful research and reasoning. It frustrates her when her instincts are telling her something is true, but she doesn't have any independent sources to corroborate with; these ideas she generally keeps to herself.

As a teacher, she's not greatly loved by her students, but she usually is able to earn their respect. Her interest and enthusiasm in teaching what she loves is not lost on her students. She has had a few problems, but for the most part is able to maintain control of the classroom.

Johanna is passionate about her interests. The few heated arguments she has gotten involved in have been over things like the presumed relationship between Johannes Brahms and Clara Wieck Schumann, the situation in Europe after the treaty of Versailles, and what version of the Goldberg Variations is the best (According to Johanna, you just can't go wrong with Glenn Gould, although Kurt Rodarmer's guitar version was an interesting departure from the norm). She's an intellectual, someone who thrives in an academic context but tends to wither on social occasions.

She's not the type to want to stand out, but she doesn't like being ignored, either. She keeps a tight reign on her temper--it usually only comes out when she and Jürgen are fighting when no on else is around. She likes things neat, and Jürgen is messy, but it's rare that their personalities clash. Johanna's too easygoing--in fact, she's something of a pushover. Not completely spineless, but it's more important to her to maintain peace than it is for her to get her way. Johanna's used to subordinating her own desires to those of others--not to say that she's a purely selfless person, but her brother tended to be the one who cried louder, and therefore got what he wanted, as they were growing up.

Johanna is a romantic who expects love to be like a book. This doesn't mean she expects a perfect relationship; what she expects are twists and turns and romance that makes for a good story. Thus it's hard for her to start a relationship, because she's looking for something special, and just "going out" with someone doesn't seem likely to end in "true love."

Although she's neat and studious, Johanna can also be absentminded. Especially when she's reading; the rest of the world will fade away while she's absorbed in a book, and hours later, when she comes out of the trance, it leaves her sort of disoriented. This can also happen, on a smaller scale, when she's deep in thought. She thinks while she cleans, but her mind wanders, and next thing she knows she's late for class and can only find one of her shoes.

At the moment, Johanna is a lonely person. She's not a loner by nature--she's the sort who has a few close friends--but living in another country makes her feel somewhat stranded. Keeping old friends was easy, but making new friends proved to be more difficult. She's shy at heart, and afraid that people will think she's crazy.

Johanna is a good listener, patient and understanding. She has a desire to learn, and sincerely cares about what happens in the world. She is also deeply insecure, ridden with fears that she isn't good enough as a professor, that she doesn't know what she's talking about, or, even worse, that she's completely insane.

Appearance

• Eyes: Johanna's eyes are a deep, striking red. When she's thinking hard, she squints.
• Face and Skin: Moderately pale and usually pretty clear. Johanna hates to wear makeup. She has a shy, gentle smile that is often accompanied by a blush. She's not really beautiful--she's pretty, but in a plain sort of way.
• Hair: Johanna has thick, slightly wavy blue hair which is usually pulled back into a headband. It gets kinda poofy and frizzy sometimes, but she can usually keep it under some control. Her hair is almost long enough to reach her shoulders.
• Build: She is on the tall side, about 5'7'', She weighs about 135 pounds, not really skinny but still slender.
• Carriage: Shy and uncomfortable, Johanna sometimes walks in a way that seems like an apology for her presence. As she gets more used to her surroundings, this may change, but Johanna is out of her comfort zone and you can tell by the way she carries herself.
• Clothing: a "nice" sort of casual; usually the sort of stuff you can find in department stores, rather than any "hipper" youth name brands. Johanna likes cardigans, sweaters, and ankle-length plaid skirts. Nothing that shows too much skin...
• Voice: Johanna has an accent that is most apparent in the rhythm with which she speaks. It is apparent that she's not from England, though it's harder for someone who doesn't know German well to recognize her Austrian accent.

Abilities

• Languages: In addition to fluency in German and English, Johanna can at least make conversation in French and Italian, and probably figure out a good deal of Spanish from its similarity to those two languages.
• Research: Johanna has research down to an art form. If you need her to find out about something, she will find more than you ever wanted to know. What she doesn't already have stored in her brain, she will be able to find in a book/on the internet/in an obscure magazine from the 1930s....
• Smart Cookie: She doesn't like to admit it, but Johanna is a very intelligent young woman.

† The Angelic

Color: Ice Blue (almost white!)

Symbol: Simplified silhouette of a butterfly.

Key to the Kingdom

Lifgende Ziel: ("lifgende" being old Enlish for "living", and "Ziel" from the Dutch for "soul")

Suriel's key manifests from the palm of her right hand, and is about the length of her palm. It consists of a silver ring with a crystalline blue-white shaft. Two silver "wings" come out of the ring, and a small garnet is set in it. In addition to being the key to her own soul, Suriel can also use this key to "seal" (lock away the special powers in a soul, to keep them from being used for the wrong purpose) a soul, and has done so on at least one occasion in the past.

Voile

Hrm, where to begin? In addition to her angelic wings, the back of Suriel's voile has a pair of butterfly wings made of wrought-metal. The metal wraps around her arms to hold up wide white "sleeves" with blue borders--they're not so much sleeves as they are arm-capes, draping over the tops of her arms and open at the bottom. Also white-with-blue-border is her dress, which cuts to one side at the waist and trails down to her ankle. Beneath this she wears a short, dark burgundy-red pleated skirt. Over the dress she wears a tight blue vest/breastplate, with a gold border and white designs. On her feet she wears gold sandals with blue laces. Just check out the drawing, it's easier.

Wings

Suriel's wings are bright white and on the large side of average, with a tinge of blue in the shadows. They look like they'd be very soft to the touch, and don't show dirt unless she's really been dragged through the mud, when they will be dirty and bloody for Dramatic Effect.

Climbing The Sephiroth

Crown, Wisdom, Understanding, Mercy, Strength, Beauty, Victory, Splendor, Foundation, Kingdom!

Johanna whips out her key and it spits out a mulitude of tiny, silver-blinding-white flappy butterflies. The butterflies swarm around her as she begins the chant sequence. At "Understanding," her wings sprout from her back and flap at "Mercy," bringing her up into the sky. At "Beauty," the butterflies begin to settle over her body, and towards the end, they meld together and form her voile, letting out a final bright flash of white light at "Kingdom" before she settles into the non-blinding voiled form.

Gifts

• Soulsight: Suriel has an innate insight into the true nature of the people she meets. Sometimes it manifests itself as little more than a good or bad feeling about someone, and other times it flares in her face with flying colors and horns blazing, shouting "ANGEL HERE" or "REALLY REALLY BAD NEWS." Her powers can be foiled, usually by a conscious effort to veil one's intentions (which most of our villains will probably have most of the time anyway). She's had this insight most of her life, but so far has only noticed that her intuition regarding people she meets is almost never wrong.
• Intellect++: As Suriel, Johanna becomes quite the brilliant strategist. Once she starts to remember her Holy War life, she'll be able to apply the knowledge to her mundane life, but at first she only gets the knowledge boost when she's in Angelic form.

Attack(s)

Soul Isolation:

Suriel closes her eyes and puts her hands together as you might if you were holding a bug or other small animal, clasped with a hollow space in the middle. She murmurs "Soul Isolation," opens her hands, and releases a ghostly butterfly that takes flight towards her target. It flies into the target's chest, and with any luck the enemy she's used it on stops moving.

Suriel uses this power to cut the enemy's soul off from his or her body. For as long as the attack lasts, the body of the target is immobilized while the soul is trapped in darkness. Depending on the ability of the victim to resist the attack, it could last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes, when the barrier between the body and soul can no longer sustain itself. The attack cannot be blocked or dodged--it's a heat-seeking butterfly, and it's not gonna stop until it gets into you. However, throwing off the effect is not difficult for a strong soul, and once it's been used on a person once they're probably going to have an easier time throwing it off if she uses it again. The chief purpose of the ability is to buy time for one of the more smackdowny angels to do their thing, or perhaps to get a hostage to safety. It doesn't take too much of her energy to use the skill, but because it's much less effective when used twice, she's not likely to use it on the same target more than once in battle.

NPCs

Suriel doesn't have a guardian fairy, exactly, but she does have Zerachiel, her twin sister who gave most of her soul to Aeshma in return for the ability to look over Suriel in all her incarnations.

Past Lives

....we'll be right back with you on that.