Makeup, subtle; a touch of gloss on the lips, nude pink, a faint blush on the apples of her cheeks, and eyes smokey in natural tones with long, gorgeous lashes. Hair, artfully tousled; silken, chestnet waves falling over her shoulders and just concealing the nape of her neck. Her height is not insubstantial, but the added lift of three inch heels on her black suede boots puts her just this side of quite tall. The hint of a smile on her plump lips shows confidence, the glint in her hazel eyes is companionable, the cast of her shoulders is strong.
A sweater dress of brilliant indigo hugs her ample form most attractively, the wide shawl collar showing just enough skin, vertical slits in the cap sleeves baring flashes of shoulder, hemline high enough to give away just a little thigh. A large, black belt cinches it in at the waist, emphasizing her hourglass shape, studded in brass along the edges with a double buckle to match. The black paisleys of her lace tights vanish right into the tops of her boots, slouched at the ankles and similarly buckled in brass. Clasped around her throat is a choker in gold, a heart at the center set with a polished onyx, and a varied collection of gold and silver bangles chime and clatter around her wrists.
It starts with her parents, Marie Josephine Scott and John Lee Roberts. Hailing from the small town of Sunnyside, Nevade, Marie and John are both adamant Christians. After their marriage in the fall of 1982, they agreed that God had given them a mission. Literally, in this case, as they took it upon themselves to become missionaries of a sort, with the intent of correcting the sin and debauchery that is inherent to Las Vegas. Obviously they have not succeeding, but it's certain they're still trying to this day.
Agatha Constance Roberts is their only child, and the family shame. They did their best to raise a good, faithful, God-fearing child; she was homeschooled, with the exception of her unfailing attendance in Sunday school, was allowed to socialise only with other children from her parents' congregation, and was heavily sheltered from the 'evils' of radio and television. This, of course, did not last.
In her teenage years, Agatha discovered the world that her parents had so desperately tried to hide from her, and she rebelled. She snuck out of the house frequently to do all the things her parents disapproved of; smoking, drinking, illicit drugs, fornication… Eventually there was a confrontation with her parents that nearly drew the police to their home, and Agatha packed her few precious belonging and left.
The time between then and now is largely insignificant. She lived with friends, worked awful part-time jobs, moved around from place to place, just trying to get by. She was a waitress, a cocktail girl, a cashier, even an exotic dancer. She made friends, lost them, rented apartments, then crashed on couches when she was evicted, had lovers and breakups and all that stuff that goes along with being young.
It wasn't until she discovered her gift that things started to change for the better. There wasn't any single event that triggered it, no suddent epiphany about what she could do. It was gradual, a slow progress to realisation. How long had it been happening? Had it been her entire life, without her knowledge? But there came a day when she knew, without a doubt, that she could… influence people, in a way. To change their moods. With a little practice she stopped pushing her own moods on those around her, learned to control it, manipulate it.
Then she got a job in a casino, one of the smaller establishments under the management of the Linderman Group. She was a dancer, an extra in the background, lost in the crowd once a week. And when she was on stage, the audience found themselves elated. They couldn't tell you why, but they loved it, and the crowds grew larger week after week.
A few auditions, a little push here and there, and a year later she's climbed the ladder from Number Six to having her name on the marquee of the Corinthian. Agatha Roberts, star of Las Vegas' top burlesque revue. It's not easy; there are rehearsals and meetings and interviews and two shows a week, but she's happy. She's happy to let her agent drag her around town, to let someone else make her schedule for her, to oversee auditions for new backup dancers, because it's all worth it when she's on stage. Just as long as no one finds out.
Agatha's gift is the power to manipulate chemical reactions in the brains of those around her; this can be as simple and subtle as changing the balance of serotonin to improve someone's mood, or as complex as synthesizing the effects of a hallucinogenic drug in a group of people. It can be done at range, or by touch, to a single person or over an area.
The effect is fastest and most potent when enacted upon a single target with whom Agatha has physical contact, often taking effect almost immediately. Close range area effect is next in efficiency, with the hardest being targeting a single person in a crowd at distance. The further she tries to reach, and the more people affected, the slower and less potent the effect, taking more and more effort on Agatha's part to strongly influence people.
She's relatively well practiced at it, having known about her ability for a few years now, and the current limit of her gift is either ten people at up to a range of fifty yards, or one person within line of sight, and at such ranges it takes several minutes of focus for the effect to become noticeable, though once influenced a person may remain such for minutes or even hours, depending on the strength of the effect on the person targeted.
Regardless of the effects pushed on a person, there is no lasting physical or psychological damage, thought Agatha has no control over the actions of those under her influence or their consequences.
