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15

15

Amanda Norman was the youngest of five children born to Bertha and John Norman. John had left school in 8th grade to go to work as a bricklayer, but always regretted the fact that he hadn't been able to graduate. He encouraged all of his children to do well in school.

Amanda's teachers all agreed that she was the brightest of the Norman children. Unfortunately, a bricklayer's wages didn't cover sending a child to college, and there were no scholarships available for a girl who didn't want to become a nurse. So, after she graduated in 1936, she took a job at the Boston Public Library. Maybe she couldn't continue her education formally, but she could help other people learn, and study on her own as well. Within a few months, she had saved enough to get her own apartment.

In May of 1938, the wealthy eccentric Marcus VanDuyker died. His closest relative, a nephew named Reginald Watkins, inherited the estate. One of his first actions was to call the Boston Public Library and offer to donate VanDuyker's personal library. Amanda was one of the librarians sent to the VanDuyker mansion to sort the books.

As she worked, Amanda noticed two books that seemed older than the other books in that section. She opened them, and found they were apparently handwritten, not printed, and in Latin. She promptly went to Watkins.

"Mr. Watkins, I'm not an expert, but these books look quite old. They may be rare, are you certain you want to donate them?"

He flipped through the pages himself. "They look like someone's notebooks, someone with bad handwriting. Not very good condition, either. I don't think they're anything I'd want to keep. I was going to let each of you choose a couple books to pay for your time, though; why don't you take these?"

"Mr. Watkins, that's very generous, but I don't want to cheat you. We're all being paid for this work, you don't need ...".

"No, I insist. You're doing me a favor, it's only right that I express my gratitude."

Despite Amanda's protests, and a few from the other librarians, they all left that evening with a couple of VanDuyker's books in their arms. Two moving vans took the rest of the books to the library. That evening, Amanda got out her high school Latin textbook and took a closer look at the books she'd been given. She had to agree with Watkins about the handwriting, but it wasn't really that bad. Slowly at first, but getting faster as she grew accustomed to the script, she began to read. These books claimed to be the notebooks of a "magus" -- a magician, but not the sort who performed at the local theaters. The notebooks spoke of feats of sorcery that reminded Amanda of the legends of Merlin.

Despite a conservative religious upbringing, Amanda wasn't offended by what she read. This was the twentieth century, after all. Certainly, there were still those who claimed to speak with the dead or find the best site for a well with a forked stick, but how could any educated person take those claims seriously? She was trying to decide if the author had been deluded or taking notes from some lost legend cycle when she came to a spot where the ink had faded a little more than usual. Squinting, she tried to make out the next sentence. Without realizing it, she read the text aloud as she did so.

The desk lamp slid closer, angling its shade to cast more light on the page.

Amanda jerked back, startled. There was no one in her apartment who could have moved the lamp. The cord wasn't caught on the leg of her chair. Then, she looked at her sofa ... and repeated the sentence she'd just spoken.

The sofa slid across the polished hardwood floor, stopping within a couple steps of where she sat.

Amanda didn't get any sleep that night, but by morning she'd come to a few conclusions. First, no matter what she'd thought, apparently magic really did exist. Somehow, the phrases in these books allowed her to do things that didn't have any other explanation -- and there were more phrases and instructions that would do even more powerful things, things she wasn't sure she wanted to try right now. Second, she couldn't tell Watkins what those books he'd given her with hardly a thought really were, unless she wanted to visit the local asylum as a patient. In fact, she couldn't think of anyone she would dare tell about the books, and about what she could now do. However, Amanda also knew that she could never forget the magic. Like it or not, it was a part of her now.

She seemed a bit distracted at work over the next week, as she noticed glowing auras around some of the library patrons or some of the places she walked past on her way to and from the library. Amanda finally turned back to her books and found a way to control these visions, so they would only appear to her if she willed. That was the night she finally accepted that she needed to learn more about magic, if she were to have any chance of keeping it from controlling her life. By the end of summer, she'd managed to get enough study and practice to put her power under her full control. She still wasn't strong enough for some of the feats described in her grimoires, but had mastered a range of spells.

It was a few months later that alien vessels straight from Jules Verne landed in New Jersey. Amanda, and most of the country, followed the news with interest. For Amanda, though, it was the mystery men who were the most interesting. She'd wondered for some time what to do with her magic -- it didn't seem right to make money off it, not when she'd gotten the grimoires for free. It also didn't seem right to do nothing, to only use her spells in a practice setting. These mystery men, though, they worked to aid people with no thought of reward. Maybe among them, she could put her spells to good use.

While Arcana is new to magic, she already wields a variety of spells. Her Wardings allow her to conjure misty walls of energy. They look like bluish fog, but are strong enough to block gunfire. By invoking the seraphim, she can temporarily blind a person, stun him with their reflected power, or strike him with a spear of silvery light. Finally, she can call up ghostly hands that can seize a person or manipulate objects at a distance.
She has done some experimenting with enchanting items. When she found a spell that would allow her to change normal clothing into ritual robes, she adjusted it into an outfit suitable for a "mystery woman", then cast it on her entire wardrobe. She has also created her Cloak of Stars, an enchanted cloak that allow her to fly without expending her personal energies.

Her study has had some extra effects. Amanda found after a month or so of practice that she had more stamina than before she received her grimoires -- she suspects it's from the "exercise", so to speak. She can see mystic auras, though she's certain she's not getting all the information she could out of them. She also has enhanced defenses against some types of mystical attack.

Arcana is tall for a woman, standing 5'6", and weighs 128 pounds. She has wavy brown hair that she keeps in a shoulder-length bob, black eyes, and fair skin. In her secret identity, Amanda wears practical skirts and blouses, occasionally pants on the weekend. As Arcana, she wears a knee-length sleeveless white dress with a blue sash, slippers, gloves, and domino mask (held in place by a minor spell). Over her dress, she wears her Cloak of Stars -- an ankle-length navy blue cloak with silver stars embroidered along the hem.