THE ORIGINS OF MS. QUILL’S TALENTS
Sixteen-year-old Agnes Quill has inherited an ancient family curse, brought about by the loss of her parents. Several of our key scholars have accounted for and confirmed that she has the ability to see and communicate with spirits trapped between worlds. In several confidential journal entries, Agnes describes the events of her parents’ funeral, where the ghost of her Grandfather, Ages Quill, visited her. It was then that he explained the nature of specters and how he used his connections with them to great advantage throughout his career. He comforted Agnes by relaying that her parents died quietly, and had therefore moved on to a place where spirits can rest in peace. Agnes has come to realize that in contacting her, Ages Quill had not died in the same manner, for only specters that are still at great unrest can communicate with the living.
Avoiding life in a boarding home, Agnes ran away to Legerdemain to find the dilapidated castle her Grandfather had once called home. When she arrived, she discovered that at the base of the castle was is an old store called The New Curiosity Shop, which her Grandfather used to run his detective agency . It was the caretaker, who confirmed that as the last living member of the Quill family, the castle and everything in it now belonged to her.
0.1. FINDINGS IN REGARDS TO SPECIFIC ABILITIES
Agnes is fully cognizant and acquainted with the spirits that are trapped within our physical world. She can communicate with most of those who wander our streets and homes aimlessly, although occasionally there are spirits too far lost for her to reach. Agnes’ own grandfather is, in fact, trapped between worlds, and has been known to help her out when she is in a desperate situation. Agnes wrote the following in one of journals:
The ghosts and spirits stuck in our world reflect all walks of life and even the souls of animals. Not all the ghosts are the haunting type; in fact, some are quite friendly and willing to cooperate with anyone who pays attention to them. This is especially helpful when I’m searching for clues or trying to get information from places most living people cannot access.
0.2. IN REGARDS TO THE PERSONALITY OF MS. QUILL
A teenage detective following in her famous grandfather’s footsteps, Agnes takes her work very seriously. She is extremely driven, throwing herself completely into her cases, almost out of necessity. Experiencing the sites and sounds of the spirit world on a regular basis can drive her crazy; only when she is engulfed by her work does she feel perfectly comfortable. Agnes gets excited easily, and often has a hard time staying still or keeping her mind on one subject. She is somewhat disorganized, which results in her becoming frantic when she cannot find what she is looking for.
Trying to connect to people in the living world is a constant challenge for Agnes. However, she has a natural gift for talking to spirits, which often gives her the upper hand while working on a hard-to-crack case. When she isn’t caught up in a mystery, she is usually less confident, often distancing herself from the world around her.
Agnes attends school, but does not feel that she truly fits in. Although Agnes would like to make flesh-and-blood friends, she he is out of her element in social situations, unsure of what to do. Agnes worries about how the world perceives her and goes to great lengths to keep from attracting too much attention to herself.
Agnes is constantly learning to overcome her own self-doubt and make the best of the talents she has, while coming to grips with the responsibilities of growing up. Running her own business forces her to continuously reevaluate what she wants from life.
0.3. MS. QUILL’S REFLECTIONS ON THE CITY OF LEGERDEMAIN
Agnes often regards the city itself as a living being, with its own unique personality traits.
She wrote the following description in a letter to Ms. Dorothy Brosgol at the St.Vera orphanage:
“…A chaotic melting pot of new and old, its buildings are stacked atop pre-existing structures and castles that have fallen to ruin. There is an eclectic mix of influences from different time periods, all built on top of a Victorian-era foundation. Cobblestone streets and immense steel pipes twist throughout the city, which is usually thick with dense fog. There are countless alleyways that seem to lead to nowhere, and plenty of shady creatures that lurk in them. In the center of the city there is a large cemetery, equivalent to the location and vastness of a valley. Central Park Graveyard takes up a good part of the city. Of course, it’s haunted—there are endless accounts of people who walk in and never make it to the other side. Many historical archives claim that the City of Legerdemain started as a graveyard that everything else was gradually built around.”
Agnes lives in a deserted castle in the middle of the city. The foundation level of the castle is small store called The New Curiosity Shop, run by a man named Mr. Lorik (an old friend of her grandfather’s). The store sells items imported from other regions including sculpture, books, artwork and tools.
Agnes often speaks of protecting her home and her family heritage. She uses her unique talents not only to help the people and spirits who hire her, but also to preserve the things she holds dear. Before Agnes arrived in Legerdemain, The New Curiosity Shop was in danger of going out of business—Mr. Lorik, growing old and weak, found it hard to maintain on a daily basis, and even more difficult to resist the offers from outside developers who wished to buy the old building. By following in her Grandfather’s footsteps and continuing to operate the business, Agnes has managed to keep the building in her family’s name.
Agnes attends class at Marley’s Schoolhouse, a small building with only a single room and teacher. Her classmates are of varying ages and grade levels, usually consisting of about 15 kids per year. Few people in Legerdemain can actually afford education (and the rich send their kids away for a better life outside Legerdemain). Agnes has a hard time connecting with most of the kids in her class, whom she fears won’t accept her because of her unusual abilities and lifestyle. Regardless of Agnes’ less than perfect attendance record she manages to do well on the tests she has taken.
1.1. THOSE DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO MS. QUILL
QUILL, Ages – Paternal grandfather
File note: Since he is the subject of his own file and continuing investigation, we have included only information as it pertains to his granddaughter.
Mr. Ages Quill was a famous detective who helped many people during his lifetime. By all accounts and interviews, he was a good man that many people still feel they owe a great debt to. He has been the subject of extensive research by the Data Analysis Keep, but since he was not willing to cooperate directly with any of our scholars, our knowledge of his exploits are far from complete. Throughout his life many rumors circulated about his “talents,” and it wasn’t long into his career that he attracted the attention of our organization. Over the years many scholars have claimed to witness his use of phantoms and unclassified entities as allies in his work, but few have been able to obtain what would classify as documented proof.
According to his Last Will and Testament (which The Keep has taken the effort to copy for our own records), Ages Quill has left all his property and possessions to his granddaughter Agnes. It is not known why, but it seems Agnes’ parents kept the fact of her inheritance a secret. Whether they were waiting for to her to come of age or were intending to hide the truth about her grandfather is not documented. Agnes did not learn about Ages Quill or his profession until his ghost came to visit, informing Agnes that there was a place that rightly belonged to her.
Ages Quill’s death is still shrouded in mystery, and constantly seems to resurface in the work that Agnes has carried on. The one thing that is clear: Ages is still trapped between realms, and has yet to move on completely. Agnes is obsessed with uncovering the truth behind her grandfather’s mysterious end, which seems connected to several powerful people who wish to remain in the shadows of the city.
QUILL, Katrina and Oliver – Mother and father
Agnes’ parents, Katrina and Oliver Quill, were killed when she was only seven. They were hardworking farmers who lived in the rural town of Calico Creek. Town records state that they passed away from a form of influenza that had spread through much of the area. According to Agnes’ accounts, no ghosts or remnants of her parents have ever turned up in any of her adventures. It was upon her parents’ death that Agnes first became aware of her unique abilities and her grandfather’s legacy.
LORIK, “Mr.” – First name unknown, aka The Lorik
Mr. Lorik is the current caretaker of The New Curiosity Shop. Mr. Lorik appears as a dark skinned man in his mid-fifties, but is in fact a multi-dimensional being known as The Lorik. J. Epoch, an expert on inter-dimensional studies who has acted as a freelance agent for the Data Analysis Keep, wrote a brief description on her findings regarding this unique entity:
“The Lorik exists in several realms of existence simultaneously through separate bodies. I don’t know how or why but I’ve seen enough of them to know it’s true. I first met a man who called himself Thomas Lorik, and then watched him die in front of me. Not too long after, I discovered that he was very much alive. But he was not the same man . . . and he did not originate from the same place. When I confused him for my friend, he explained that he was ‘connected,’ but separate at the same time. He claimed to be conscious of many other pieces of himself spread out through different worlds. It creeped me out so I stopped asking him questions.”
The Mr. Lorik that resides with Agnes at The New Curiosity Shop acts as Agnes’ guardian and living connection to the history of her grandfather. He is always there to offer advice, although usually in a cryptic manner that leaves Agnes asking even more questions. Mr. Lorik always maintains a calm and reserved appearance, especially when Agnes is at her most frantic. Those who have spent time with them can attest that Agnes is extremely protective of Mr. Lorik and the Curiosity Shop they both call home. Many locals have speculated Mr. Lorik’s attachment to the store runs deeper than loyalty.
“That old man has been working in that store forever. No one even remembers when the place was built. And no one can remember a time that he wasn’t employed there. When the store fell on hard times, the old man got sick. When the shop was prospering, so too the man. He is made from the walls of its foundation. If you burn the store down only then will the man die.”
–Traver Marts, owner of the Marts family-owned bakery
Regarding Mr. Lorik’s Skills and Abilities:
Mr. Lorik is fairly experienced in several forms of magic and voodoo—often useful for Agnes, who is still learning to handle the supernatural. It is not documented where Mr. Lorik acquired his knowledge of the mystic arts, but he seems to have various connections to local shaman as well as tribesmen clerics, who pass through Ledgerdemain.
Additional note: There is no birth record on file for Mr. Lorik in any of the Legerdemain Municipal buildings, and there seems to be no documentation of a first name ever used.