Mary Cornwell, Director
...thirty-three, she was on the fast track to the elite group of the
ChosenÉ those factotums of the gods for whom limitless wealth was
their salary, and for whom all the money in the world could not buy
them what they really wanted. Now in her early forties, lanky and
rail-thin as sheŐd ever been, her blonde hair still as bright and
soft as it had been in her girlhood, she was the Director of the
schizoid institution - in her own home town - that the gods had made
the agent of their handiwork.
Prefering to engage in her studies rather than to exert her
personality on her domain, she is only a fair administrator, but
seems ideal for an academic institution that has not funding
worries. She has an able right hand, so does not need to exert
herself administratively very much.
My real life persona :
I graduated with a B.A. in Classics from The Ohio State
University. I am starting graduate school in Women's Studies. I am
Xena fanatic, writer of fanfic, Webmaster and the list owner. My
hobbies include antiquing, my aviary and writing. One day I hope to
teach in a college setting.
Alexiares Thearktos, Chief Information
Officer and Dean of Humanities
...the faculty of institutions on two continents. She is far too
fond of explosives, computers, and beautiful women, not necessarily
in that order. Over time professor Thearktos has become the main
creator of alarming security related items on campus, and has a
determined conflict in progress with the Trolls, whom she feels are
far too anal and spoil really good explosions by shooting regular
bullets back instead of launching grenades. Her laboratory, now
colloquially referred to as the Bunker, has become a regular
dispensary of Cadbury's chocolate, grade two dynamite, and a
beautiful woman of some scientific repute.
Of course, real life isn't quite this much fun, but I'm working
to ammend that. having already finished a degree in geophysics and
determined that a pure office job would drive me stark, raving mad,
I am working on a degree in archaeology with a focus on the Near
East, Greece, and parts of North Africa. To finance my university
habits, I get by on geophysical and archaeological work, as well as
those lovely jobs that require a good pair of work gloves and steel
toed boots. In order to make greater use of my webmasterly talents
and knack for the visual and written arts together with strong
political viewpoints and organizational skils, I'm working on adding
semi-professional activism to my business card so as to synch up
what I believe in with how money arrives in my bank account.
(Working for the oil industry is no fun when you're an
environmentalist at heart.)
Archaeologically speaking, there's a masters to finish and a
potential Phd in the wings. Real life has finally forced me to get a
(gasp, choke) cellphone. Writerly speaking, I have a novel
in progress and a finished book on Amazons
to my credit, as well as a clutch of short stories and far fewer
poems than CFXS' Poet Laureate, ArdenTly.
Mark Alger, Senior Associate director and Chief
of Engineering Services
MIT with a BS in electrical engineering and raccoon eyes earned
spending all his spare time playing with the TMRC's, (Tech Model
Railroad Club... America's first hacker society), train set, he went
to work for his coop sponsor, Hephaestus Industries Ltd., S.A. This
latter point was a sore spot for him. It could be seen, however, to
be his own fault. While he was busy playing with trains, his
classmates were earning class standing and thus hoovering up all the
good summer jobs at firms such as IBM, Burroughs, Sperry-Rand, and
DEC.
Four years later, he was to discover his employer's true nature
and eventually have the last laugh. Hephaestus, aka Vulcan, was and
remains the God of Fire and Industry in the Graeco-Roman pantheon.
After the so-called Twilight of the Gods, he turned to amassing and
holding as much wealth and power in temporal terms as he could. By
the 20th Century, he was well established as the head of an immense,
(if totally secret), commercial enterprise that controls perhaps one
percent of the world's wealth.
Alger, in turn, having made substantial contributions to the
growth of HILSA, was amply rewarded and, at the time of his forced
retirement was made only slightly less wealthy that Bill Gates. In
fact, it could be said that he was better off than the Microsoft
founder, as Gates's wealth is tied up in Microsoft stock, while the
bonusses Alger earned from HILSA were in gold bullion and banked in
Switzerland, where they form the core of a massive amount of capital
which earns an incredible income.
From 1972 to 1997, Alger was employed in various capacities by
HILSA. Late in his career, he took on the position of Hephaesus's
Chief of Magic and Gadgets and was hailed as The Artificer by the
Attic Trolls who provided security to HISLA and other Enterprise
installations. Then in 1997, he was diagnosed with a mysterious
disease that made it impossible for him to continue with HILSA.
(Rumors abound, the most reliable being that his disease was
potentially deadly to the Gods who employed him.) He was given a
generous retirement package and found a sinecure as the head of the
maintenance department of the Center for Xena Studies in Columbus
Ohio.
One of the last tasks he performed for HILSA was a favor for a
member of the East families, one Semiramis East, who was employed as
a line producer by Pacific Renaissance Pictures in Auckland New
Zealand. The nature of the favor is lost in the mists of time. It is
notable for the fact that, as a token of gratitude, Semiramis gifted
Alger with a "six-pack" of Xena: Warrior Princess action
figures... dollies... in their original Toy Biz packaging. There
were one each of Xena, Gabrielle, Callisto, Velasca, LaoMa, and
Autolycus in the 12" models.
The dollies were a hassle from the start. To begin with he had to
convince Greek customs at Pireaus that he wasn't smuggling either
drugs or some odd American pornographic fetish into the country.
Then, once he reached HILSA headquarters in suburban Athens, he came
in for unmerciful ribbing from his co-workers, including one
incredibly crass and painful campaign of practical jokes by a pair
of Low Elf humorists that involved stitches and considerable Gold
Bond ointment.
Despite the grief he got, Alger couldn't quite bring himself to
throw the dollies away and, when he came to rest in his old loft
apartment in Cincinnati's Over the Rhine, they were still among his
gear. Unbeknownst to him, Hephaestus's wife and partner, Aphrodite,
the Goddess of Love, had made an aftermarket addition to the stock
dollies by giving them souls, thus bringing them to life. By the
time Alger became aware of this, it was far too late.
Over the following months, as he settled into his new life after
25 years abroad, Alger nearly forgot about the dollies. He had
unpacked them, of course, and arranged them on a windowsill in his
loft, then left them to gather dust and fade in the sunlight that
poured in the West-facing window. Months later, he noticed that they
had done neither and had occasion to wonder at it.
Then they announced that they were alive.
Life began to get interesting.
**********
More prosaically:
Mark Alger is a graphic designer and technical writer living in
Cincinnati. He is nowhere near as interesting as his fictional alter
ego. He is currently attempting to gain professional publication for
his stories of Gabrielle Dolly.
Batwing, Special Projects Coordinator
...1999 after he bought a magazine that had a list of Xena mailing
lists. He crashed the scene bringing with him his misinformed
opinions and his inappropriate comedy. He left the list in late '99
citing personal reasons but the truth was that he was launching a
coup to gain control of Australia and most of Asia with plans to
march his forces through Europe by the end of 2000. After suffering
a humiliating defeat at the hands of his fellow warlord Phil (not
helped by the fact that his minions decide to take a sick day) he
slunk back to plot world domination again. In 2002 he was brought
out of seclusion by Mary, the CFXS director who promised him riches
beyond his wildest dreams if he would return and lead the ravaging
dolly armies of the CFXS. Turned out that it was the Ravishing dolly
army, and he never got the chance to lead, but they did lead him onÉ
(Damn you GabDolly). He then found a lab out the back and refused to
move until he got his legions of Terror. Being that it was the main
research facility of the Centre, Mary simply made him Special
Projects Director. His days are now spent trying to devise a super
weapon that will wipe out all non Xena loving life on this planet
leaving only the faithful to inhabit the planet under his
totalitarian rule. But until that day comes he continues his role as
special project director (but only because the coke machine is kept
stocked and the canteen has a wide variety of pastries).
Mike Vivian, Coach
ArdenTly, Poet Laureate
Snarky, Dean of Critical Thinking and General
Studies
Rhiannon Silverflame, Dean of Journalism
Angela Vitale, Dean of Archaeology
KaiRobin, Curator of the Fine Arts Collection
Rachel, Associate Director and Dean of Student
Affairs
CallyDoll, Assistant Enforcer and Defender
of the Scrolls
...with ten years. They have the hormones of peak adolescence in the
mature bodies of women in their twenties. They are, for the most
part, unrestrained by convention or social mores. They have had
little or none of the usual socialization that "normal"
humans have. Callisto, as the youngest, seems some times to be
trying to make up for her late start.
Cally is an innocent. Cally dresses in provocative
tatterdemalion, exposing vast swaths of firm, tanned flesh through
artful slashes in the fabric of working-class costumery. Cally is
open, forthright, and seems unaware of the effect of her naked
sensuality on those around her. Cally acts on instinct, on impulse,
without thought for consequences, meeting her desires of the moment
with no care for tomorrow.
The urgent sexuality of her spirit shows in everything about her
appearance, from her taut muscularity to her languid movement, from
the undeniable *presence* readily seen on her face. Unlike Xe, who
can upon occasion fade into the background and observe with sucked
cheek and hooded-eyes, her face held in expressionless assessment,
Cally's expression is always intent and... *forward*. Even when she
is trying to act mysterious, there is always a hint of droll
amusement in her eyes and lips, as though she is keeping some
delicious secret from you.
Like all of her dolly sisters, Cally is omnisexual... interested
more in sensual experiences than in the sex of a particular partner.
She stands 5'8" tall in her bare feet and weighs a touch over
110 pounds. Her hair is pale, almost white, and cottony in texture.
She wears it off her collar. It floats around her head in a pale
nimbus made paler in contrast with her nut-brown skin. Her large
brown eyes alternately crinkle and bug in broad expressions that
animate her sharp-jawed, high-cheekboned face.
Unlike her sister Gabrielle, who had the advantage of ten years
in a time loop to get an education, Cally went straight to work out
of the CASIC lab and therefore can seem a little dense at times.
This is misleading. Under that cotton mop there is a very sharp
mind, quick to learn, observant, and facile. She does, however, lack
some of the maturity of her elder sisters.
Cally is employed as a bodyguard and general factotum in the
Center's Office of the Director, frequently assigned to the
Director's personal detail. Her official title is Enforcer. She
lives in a low-rent apartment south of Columbus, drives a beat up
old Mercury Lynx, and is constantly between boyfriends. She likes to
party and plays lead guitar in Gabrielle Dolly's All Grrl All Doll
Band.
Gabrielle Dolly, Dean of Women's Studies
aka: Gabrielle East, GFE3. Called simply Dolly by her intimates.
...Matriculated at East College from 1988-1998.
Degrees: BA's in Music, Physical Education, Classical Studies and
Oriental Studies, BS's in Archeology and Anthropology (double
major,individual degrees). MS in Forensic Anthropology. MA in
Language Arts (Award for special distinction in studies in Sanskrit,
ancient Chinese dialects, Mandarin, Cantonese, Farsi, Urdu, Hindu,
Arabic, Hebrew, modern Greek, Turkish.) Special achievement
certificates from the College of Arts and Sciences and from The
Physical Sciences School.
Special occupational training: Two months at the FBI Academy in
Quantico, Virginia. Women's Basic Underwater Demolition
School.(WBUDS, Patterned after the Navy SEAL program.), Jump school,
Ft.Bragg, NC. Outward Bound Colorado. Class 5 Climbs rock
climbingschool. Troll Basic Training, Camp Meander, Jackson, KY.
Advanced Troll Guards Specialist Training, Jirhum Ra, Kashmir.
Clandestine/Covert Operative Training, The Farm, (location
undisclosed).
Is a Federally qualified, licensed Private Investigator/Firearms
Instructor. Holds rank of Agent Specialist in the (former) Troll
Guards, (Troll Action Teams, Regiment Arcadia, Tenth Ohio Trolls),
and is an honorary billilaalu as well.
Lives in a loft in Cincinnati's notorious Over the Rhine and
commutes to her job as Dean of Women's Studies (a sinecure) at East
College/CFXS. Shares living quarters with her creator and mentor,
Gilbert Duncan Christie, six cats, and a brownie named Brown Mab.
Likes to drive fast, wear bright clothes and pheromonic scents.
Plays a mean guitar.
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