She has a large victorian house in a good neighborhood, nicely furnished in a gothic / pagan style. There are racks of drying herbs on the enclosed back porch. Candles are everywhere. There are statues of various gods and goddesses through out the house. There is also a working fireplace with a medium sized caldron set to one side. Decorative herbal brooms hang above each door and a small mirror sits facing outward at each window. She drives a restored black Ford Mustang that was a graduation gift from her parents (given to her just before they died) which she cherishes. She posseses all the tools she needs for her various crafts. An altar and all her Wiccan suppiles are in one room she has set aside as her temple. Raven prefers very nice gothic style clothing and owns various ritual robes for Wiccan rituals. She has all the necessities of life plus some luxury items (jewelery, standard computer, stereo, CDs, TV, DVD player and DVDs, etc.)She also has a large library of magical tomes, scrolls, tablets, ect.
Family: She is the mother of a set of twins fathered by the Demon Elder of Illusia Vitaseng. Their names are Selene Cleopatra and Alexander Helios Stargrove. She has some family in Greece. Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, etc.
Powers:
History
Raven was born on a snowy February night at her parents' home in their large bathtub. Her gentle birth lead to a wonderful life. She traveled the world extensively in her formative years, during which she learned to speak, and later read, several languages. Her parents spent the summer in Ireland nearly every year (when he father wasn't away on a dig) while she was growing up. Her sharp mind and curious nature lead her down many esoteric paths. Her magical abilities manifested at a young age and were nurtured and encouraged by her parents. She learned the basics of jewlery-making at a very young age, and it became one of her many passions. She'd spend many long hours working on different styles and techniques until she perfected them. Her parents were much more than they seemed, though she didn't know it. They would constantly ship books and scrolls back home from wherever they happend to be in the world. There was always a lot of love and laughter in the family, and they were true citizens of the world. They would always return to New York for holidays, and just to reconnect with their true home. Once Raven reached school age, the travel was limited to summer vacations and school breaks.
Her father, who was of English ancestory, was an archaeologist / anthropologist through much of her formitive years until he became curator of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (her father commuted to and from the museum). He made sure to teach her how to read and decipher heiroglyphics and the pronunciation of ancient Egyptian words trying to spark her interest in archaeology. Her Greek mother (raised Greek Orthodox until her Awakening which lead her to Wicca and Paganism), who spoke to her in Greek as much as she did English, taught yoga and opened an organic vegetarian restaurant. All throughout her school years she made top marks effortlessly. Her mind would just soak up any knowledge that it was exposed to.
When she was 10, she went to a ren fair with her parents and met a silversmith, whom she begged and begged and begged until she finally relented (and her parents paid her) to teach Raven the tricks of the trade. She was taught first how to do simple bending of wire and wrapping of stones. As she gained skill over the years, she learned to smelt silver and pour it into molds, and even learned how to make the molds. Her parents taught Raven the ways of Wicca and herbalism. Her mother taught her how to make candles. They taught her that it was important to care for those around you, not just the people, but the planet itself. Her mother taught her Yoga and while in a trip ti the middle east, she beacmes fascinated with belly dancing. She began to take lessons from one of the best. Raven learned all her lessons well and was surprised when her parents told her that the candles, circles and inscence were all just window dressing, and that all she really needed to use was her mind. This confused her for a time, but she accepted it and found her own paths to enlightenment. Wicca was still the base of all she did. One of her parent's most important teachings was that one should search the past for its secrets. They also taught her to work for today and look to the future. Those were words she lived by. She studied ancient languages so she could one day decipher ancient scrolls and tablets, looking for secrets of the past. Little did she know that her time with her parents was drawing to a close.
She graduated first in her high school class (having skipped 2 grades) and gave a memorable Valedictory speech. Her parents surprised her with a restored Ford Mustang as her graduation present. She was thrilled. Her parents were hosting a public ritual in a rural town in upstate New York, but Raven came down with a bad case of the flu and stayed home. She waved off her parents to go, assuring them that she'd be fine alone. They went off after fussing over their only child and telling her how much they loved her. That was the last time she saw them alive. Raven was shattered by the loss of her parents. She'd wander the house alternating between tears of grief, raging anger at the drunk driver who'd broad-sided them, and guilt that she'd told them to go. One day something in her broke. She was weeping, curled up in a chair when she felt the lightest of touches on her shoulder...was that a breeze? Raven looked up and saw the face of a beautiful woman of child-bearing years. This woman looked exactly as Raven thought the Greek goddess Gaia would look. Her dark blue eyes went wide with wonder as the woman spoke words of comfort to her. Gaia told her that though her parents had moved on to other lives, she still had much work to do in this life. She must not dwell on death, but live for life. She told Raven that there would be someone who would come for her, to teach her more of things needed to learn to farther her magical knowledge. Gaia told her that must rest, but that she would see her again. Soon. Her parents were very wealthy, and had left her all that they posessed.
Raven must have fallen asleep because she found herself waking up to a tap on the door. She went to answer it. It was Valentina, one of her mother's closest friends. Valentina bustled in, telling Raven that she was there to teach her what she needed to know. Over the next three years or so, Valentina taught Raven the ways of magic and the spheres. She warned her about Hunters and Gray-faces. Raven was a bright pupil as always, and soaked up the knowledge. One day Valentina told Raven that she must go to a Illusia. Her goddessmother lived there and would care for her. She gave her the address of the occult shop where she could be found, and promised to look after things in New York for her. Raven sent all of her parents' books and scrolls to the house that her goddessmother secured for her. They are in a fire proof, air tight vault beneath the house, (Think bomb shelter) Finally, she shipped her car out and closed up the house that was her home. She boarded a plane to her new location to start fresh.
Once she got to Illusia, she began working in the occult shop with her goddessmother and selling her unique jewerly. While working there her co-worker committed suicide. While the store was closed for the police investigation, she met Riley Kiedes and fell head over heals in love with him. (They would later be married and then divorced.) Unfortuneately for her, the same night she met Riley, she met and caught the attention of the demon Vitaseng. Who knows what about her caught his attention? It could have been her innocence, or her beauty, or her magical ability... For whatever reason, he persued her and dispite her telling him that she loved Riley, he did whatever he had to do to get what he wanted. Long story short, she wound up pregnant by him and giving birth to a beautiful set of twins, Alexander Helios and Selene Cleopatra Stargrove.
