SIOBHAN

Real name: Siobhan Morgaine Conneff
Occupation: Semi-Professional Dancer and Musician
Identity: Secret
Legal status: Citizen of the Republic of Ireland with no criminal record, holds an extended work VISA to the United States
Other aliases: Phoenix
Place of birth: A small village near Hollywood in County Wicklow, Ireland
Marital status: Single
Known relatives: Ronan and Maire Conneff (parents)
Group affiliation: The New York-based Riverdance troupe, the Irish Order of Druids
Base of operations: New York
First appearance: September, 2000
History:

Siobhan Morgaine Conneff was born in County Wicklow, Ireland, to Ronan and Maire Conneff. Her parents, most of her relatives, and many residents of the small village she grew up in were members of an Order of Druids who kept alive many of the practices of the original Druids from back in Roman times.

Siobhan's birth and early years were normal for an Irish child. She listened to music, tromped all over the Irish countryside having 'adventures', and of course, skinned a few knees here and there. Siobhan was an only child, but there were plenty of other kids in the village to play with.

Siobhan's fundamental years were spent immersed in traditional Irish culture. Her family taught her how to act like the Catholics and to blend in with the non-Order Irishmen and women she met, so she wouldn't give away the 'secret' of the Order. The Irish are traditionally a musical people, so Siobhan learned to sing and dance and play musical instruments almost before she walked. Also, her parents taught her the traditional Irish language, Goidelic, using it exclusively while at home, reserving English for when outsiders were present.

At the age of five, Siobhan was first taken to one of the Order's night meetings, outside on a chilly February night. The moon was full, the stars were bright, as she and a handful of other village children, most her age or a year older or younger, were brought before the old man Siobhan called grandfather, even though she was unsure of his actual relation to her. An elderly woman brought the children forward into the circle of robed Druids. Their names were called out one by one, boys and girls alike, in no particular order. Most of the children fumbled some kind of respectful greeting in reply. Siobhan merely stood silently, looking up at the moon intently and then closing her eyes, the way a sunbather would close their eyes and turn their face up into the sun. A smile broke out on Siobhan's face, although she could never explain why. The elder cleared his throat, and Siobhan looked toward him, like someone listening to the music of the spheres and getting their reverie interrupted. Continuing the ritual in question, the small knot of kids were inducted into the Order of Druids as acolytes or novices. They were given their first bird in flames symbol to show their devotion, small pendants of no particular monetary value.

After that time, Siobhan had to partake of the family business of pretending to be normal Catholic Irish people, not discussing the Order with those not already in the know because, of course, the Church would not be horribly amused at what this group of families were doing. They even went so far as to give tithe to the local diocese and sat in on Mass, even though they did not believe in the Catholic faith in the slightest. Siobhan was told repeatedly when she was younger, that those not in the Order can never know about them. They were doing Important Work (tm).

As she got older, Siobhan entered some junior musical and dance competitions. She was better than average, but not the budding genius like some of her non-Order relations who lived in Hollywood, a town not far from her home. She bonded best with the other children in the Order's group of novices, since they each understood one another's lifestyle, and there were no awkward questions. They played games, they got into fights, they had puppy love crushes, but they were always told no kissyfaces and no playing doctor. If they did, they would be sent to live with a non-Order relative or something. Life was stricter than one would expect for children free to roam the green hills of Ireland.

When they were nearing the age of 10, the group of children were brought once more before the Druids late at night. Siobhan was once more noted to be gawking at the moon, something she'd apparently been doing since she could stay up later at night. However, this time, nothing was said about that as the elder, a woman now, since the man had died the year before, spoke to the children about what their Order was about.

Long ago, she said, the Druids of old had been able to harness certain elemental powers: fire, earth, air, water, etc. They, combined with their members who had the Irish gift of The Sight, were able to foretell of a great darkness that would plunge the land into chaos. Against that darkness would rise the Chosen One, an Irishman or woman who would embody the spirit of the land and the skies and who would lead Ireland and her people against the darkness, to quell the darkness, to save the world from chaos. This Chosen One would reveal him or herself by fire, by light, by the need to save people. One of you, she said, will be the Chosen One, the one symbolized by a bird of fire. It has been foretold.

Most of the children ignored the story as something to scare them into behaving in their duties to the Order. Siobhan was disturbed by it, having witnessed the effects of The Sight, since her mother had a slight variant of it.

However, she put it out of her mind as she continued to grow, learning more of her various abilities over the course of time. Her fourteenth birthday came and went uneventfully, even if it meant more presents symbolizing the Order's chosen patron, the firebird.

It was a random early evening, the moon was full. Siobhan had been walking home from her dancing lessons wearily. She was stopped in the street by four young men, one of whom, Colin, fancied her, and she had pointedly demonstrated her lack of interest before. However, on this crystal clear night, Colin wasn't taking no for an answer. Backed up by his cronies, he grabbed the girl and shoved her into the space between two stone buildings. Siobhan had never personally had violence done to her like this, an unfair fight between a much greater strength and a much weaker one. It was different from the scraps and fistfights Irish children got into. In a blind panic, Siobhan struggled with everything she had. She never saw the knife until Colin pulled it out of her body, soaked with her blood. Maybe it was the pounding of her head, maybe it was the adrenaline pumping through her veins, but before she could say jack robinson, there was a blinding flash, and the four men were sprawled around her, shaking their heads and rubbing their eyes. Siobhan took the opportunity and fled, her head pounding, tears streaming out of her eyes, her feet stumbling as she struggled to remain conscious long enough to make it home.

Maire quickly used her limited medical skills to stifle Siobhan's wound. Ronan was livid and called a few friends from the Order to sort out the boys which had attacked his daughter. After her father and his friends beat the tar out of Colin and his fellow thugs, he brought key members of the Order of the Druids to his home to watch over his only child. Together, they spoke in hushed whispers about what an eyewitness happened to see, and they were further astounded to see the silvery flames dancing all over Siobhan's body as she lay there unconscious. The elderly matriarch of the Druids proclaimed that Siobhan was indeed the Chosen One, for the flames danced brightest around the bird of prey pendant she'd had since she was five.

Siobhan woke nearly a week later, still pained by her stab-wound, but startled by the sudden change in her parents' attitude toward her. They were almost... deferential? Maire explained gently that Siobhan was the Chosen One whose coming was foretold. Siobhan was confused, to say the least. She wished for things to go back the way they were. However, as soon as she could travel safely and not relapse due to a night out where the Druids met, she was taken to a gathering. She was brought to the matriarch's side and proclaimed to all as the Chosen One, an honor that she really wasn't sure she was ready for. She was promptly initiated into all the full mysteries of the Order as if she were an adult of 18 years. The rest of the novices in her grouping were sort of turned into friends who still had to obey her every whim. Most adult members of the Order, when no outsider was around, treated her as if she were fine china or royalty. Siobhan decided she liked that concept and took moderate advantage of it, cultivating an air of arrogance.

The downside to being this new Chosen One was that her life was no longer hers. In addition to the traditional skills she'd been studying as a child, she was taught even more skills and she was forced to hone her mutant powers through trial and error. Those of the Order who were put into place as her instructors (read: drill sergeants) taught her the proper ways of the heroine, how to fight, how to defend, and most importantly, how not to get into a fight at all. They cultivated her mutant powers over the course of nearly a decade, even as they extended her physical training. Siobhan's only joys during this toughening period of time was her music and her dancing. Those were still allowed, and she treasured them greatly.

Shortly after her 'ascension' as the Chosen One, she was given an identity to go along with her newfound status. She was carefully instructed that when she was to become an adult and finally venture forth to save Ireland from the darkness, she must always use the name they gave her. The name was chosen for ancient legends, for the fact that she managed to heal herself from what may well have been a fatal wound, for the fact that she rose from a bed of ashes. They called her Phoenix after the symbol of the Order of Druids. Siobhan then understood all the bird-symbols all over her house, all over the houses of the fellow Druids, over the things they used in their rituals. The coming of the Phoenix was what was foretold by the Irish seers centuries dead, and the Order had been devoted to awaiting the resurrection of the holy firebird, to teach the Chosen One about his or her role, to serve the Chosen One.

If that wasn't bad enough, the weight of a centuries-old series of prophecy and her own identity replaced with one she didn't exactly ask for, Siobhan was instructed to keep up the facade of her normal life before her ascension. She continued the music, the dancing, even entering some competitions and placing a moderate amount of the time. She eschewed collegiate life, instead going semi-pro with her dancing and musical abilities. The Order of Druids wasn't horribly happy with the recognition she was getting, trying to get her to stop, to fade back into the shadows, so they wouldn't be revealed. Siobhan rebelled a little bit, and during one particularly great performance, she was spotted by a talent agent, who hurriedly signed the startled and breathless young woman to a contract dancing with one of the Riverdance troupes.

The Order was collectively pissed. Her parents were half mad, half proud of their daughter's achievement. To the Order's dismay, their charge, the woman they've been grooming to be Ireland's savior for over 10 years, went to Dublin to dance. She received more and more attention for this and her music, and so she quickly found herself on an airplane for America, puzzling over reports of this so-called 'mutant' theory.

Height: 5'8" Weight: 115 lbs.
Eyes: Emerald Green Hair: Fiery Red
Unusual physical characteristics: None
Strength level: Siobhan possesses the strength of a normal woman who exercises strenuously.
Known superhuman powers: Siobhan is able to harness the light and energy reflected from Earth's Moon and turn it into various solid-light objects, including wings for flight, various projectiles for attack, and shielding for defense. This ability also includes minor firestarting and the ability to channel the energy into one strenuous burst to help herself or another speed the healing process.
Other abilities: Singing/Storytelling, Musical (bodhran, flute, tin whistle), Dance (traditional Irish), Druidic Ritual, Mnemonics, Goidelic (Irish Gaelic language), Bare-Knucks Boxing, Archery, Darts
Weapons and paraphernalia: Shillelagh (Irish cane or fighting stick), Simple Bow, Compound Bow, Dance Shoes and Outfits.
Other notes: Quarter and Half.