Background

There are those who believe that dreams are a perpetual window into the subconscious. There are also those who consider dreams as walking premonitions, visions that foretell the future. Mortals are free to believe in whatever they want. But in Calliope’s case, she knew better. Her dreams are nothing one would ever yearn for. They are vestiges of horror—strange shadows, hushed whispers, and flashes of lingering memories of the distant past. They are... nightmares.

 

As the first spirit to triumph the long grueling tribulations to become a worthy Specter in The Void, The Order entrusted her with the responsibility of being the Master of The House. Their assessment showed that her demise dealt with the most pivotal unwritten rule stated in the Constitution of Death: to do, that which is destructive of one's own life, or taketh away the means of preserving the same is the absolute evil of mankind.

​

Although authoritative and hubristic in nature, The Order were kind enough to offer her the chance to wipe out unpleasant memories and to start afresh as a Specter. However, with her immanent Victorian stubbornness, she opted to retain them so she could never forget who she once was. this choice, of course, came with a price. Like a tidal wave, the last she saw of the earth, all these memories kept flooding back, manifesting in her night terrors.

​

Pre-Specter Era (1860-1888)

She would vividly remember the time she was Calliope Marlowe Prynne, born from a working class family whose home was a spitting image of the harrowing era she belonged in—wives sheltering their husbands from the tedium of domestic affairs, daughters being taught to be merely charming decorative homemakers, and husbands and sons basking in extensive freedom.

​

Calliope’s family was small compared to other lower working class families in their town. Her father was a clergyman and her mother was, of course, a simple housewife. She had three siblings—all elder brothers. The eldest went to join the military, the second pursued an acting career in theater, and the last one became a woodworker. In essence, they were living while all she could do was stay inside the house, confined to make puddings and knit stockings and if gifted with the luxury of time, write a diary. She suffered from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation.

​

She would look back on the days her parents kept telling her that she was meant to be something more, more than her peers, more than herself—she should have been born a man if she could not submit herself to a marriage obligation. Perhaps serving flavorful meals in the kitchen and scribbling a few pages up in an apple loft would on no occasion be enough to measure her worth that she had to be betrothed to a son of a neighboring wool-stapler she had never heard of. She recalled having a myriad of questions that time. Was it because a man could provide her with a chain of beads and a fine petticoat? Or was it so she could live up to the conventional fate of a woman: to marry, to bear children, and to work in the home until they die? She despised how she was treated like a caged bird, forbidden to venture further than the home. Yet as she refused to fulfill her supposed destiny, she was locked up, battered, and flung about the room.

​

Specter Era (1888-present)

Born liberal in a prejudiced world, Calliope had always believed in the fundamental interconnectedness of things. perhaps this was the reason she was indifferent when she first learned about the goings-on in the afterlife.

​

She realized that when a mortal meets their end, they would not actually fall into a deep perpetual limbo, instead, they would have no choice but to seize their ultimate awakening in a world called The Void. The spirit of the dead will live on and will eventually be classified into different groups such as death omens, revenants, specters, poltergeists, vengeful spirits, and other spirits. Indeed, the afterlife is as grandiose and festive as it sounds, she thought.

​

From hereon, she was transformed into the spirit Calliope. Reborn, she commanded the Specters, a group of wayward supernatural detectives who were once mortals that perished in violent, unsolved, or unexplainable deaths. They plunge headlong into the enigma and haunt the living and the dead so as to solve unfathomable phenomena, mainly to keep the balance between the two worlds.

​

Life Inside the Host (present)

For the purpose of blending into The Mortal World, it has been a practice of the Specters to meticulously look for humans on the verge of death to possess and become their prospective Hosts. These then are brought to The Void wherein the Specters ask for their consent if they could use their bodies as mortal disguises. Some choose to let their spirits flow in the afterlife, but there are also those who, if fortunate enough, accept the "second chance" in exchange for waking up from a potentially endless slumber.

​

The spirit of the Specter Calliope, together with her familiar fox, Darcy, traveled the world through years to find the most impeccable Host. Her wandering led her through wars, revolutions, and national crises of different time periods—and somehow, no matter the time or place, she found herself in the company of playwrights, authors, and artists (both mortals and spirits). It was not surprising then that her destined Host was a smart journalist-writer in the name of Ethos Alina Eleutheros-Orlov. Her near-death experience, along with her biological sister Mavaris Catriona’s, is a long-standing mystery waiting to be solved. And the Specters, needless to say, will surely be the ones who would unlock the riddle and find the answer to it.

​

Personality

Calliope maintains a calm, stern, and reserved demeanor. Experiences of horror and havoc throughout the years have numbed her down. A deep thinker and not the type to waste her words. Despite her detached nature, she is fearless and very curious that she would jump in feet first into any situation. She never had much use for caution or fear, never learned the need for them either. Furthermore, although she often gets involved in disputes with other beings and entities, she calculates every word and move being executed, careful of keeping the Family's enemies restricted.

 

As the oldest among the Specters, she harbors a strong ambition to keep the balance between The Void and The Mortal World, and to protect the rest of her tight circle.

​