Marina

Marina LeWebb
A Private Eye With a Vendetta

Name: Marina Minerva LeWebb
Sex: Female
Age: 35, or as old as Duke, depending onthe setting.
Rank: Puckworld Private Investigator, specializingin Criminal Psychology and Martial Arts

Appearance: She is as tall as Duke,muscular, and fairly broad-shouldered. Her most marked characterisitcis her feathers- they are white with black tiger-like stripesasymmetrically all over her body, with three stripes on each cheek,symmetrically; mostly horizontal, slightly diagonal, giving awarpaint-like appearance. This is not accountable by any ethnicityor genetics; she has never met anyone with markings like hers.She has long, flowing black hair in a thick braid to her waist,with tendrils escaping around her face and softening her slightly.Her eyes are blue and hard. She has a brooding, antisocial appearance,but also one of great depth. She is curvy with a thick, muscularwaist and has good, relaxed posture, though her reflexes are obviouslyhairtrigger. She walks with long, bold strides, and meets anygaze full-on. She is very beautiful, but that's not what's usuallynoticed about her.

Attire: When on the job, which is almostalways, Marina wears a medium-dark blue sleeveless bodysuit; ablack multi-pocketed utility belt slung about her hips; blackfingerless gloves; short black leather boots; and a silver crescentmoon pendant. She wears her twin katana blades either strappeddiagonally across her back, or, when wearing her long, slate-greytrenchcoat, one at each hip, gunslinger-style. The trenchcoathas a high collar, a vertical vent in the back, and billows outat the ankle. Casually, she always dresses simply, in solid colors(once she wore plaid- it was blinding). She occasionally wearsskirts or dresses, but mostly jeans or a nice pair of slacks.

Weaponry: She lives by her katanas.They are the old-fashioned kind, and do not ignite, but are plainmetal and cloth (around the grip). She also has a bola on herutility belt, and has been known to throw ninja stars seeminglyout of nowhere. She can use a gun, but doesn't care to, and doesn'tcarry one. Her utility belt has all kinds of useful things init, such as lockpicks, a black powder (used for fingerprinting,among other things), homing devices, and small smoke bombs usedfor covering exits.

Accent: The Puckworld equivalent ofManhattan. Her voice is low, for a woman's, and somewhat sultry,but also hard. She would be well voiced by cartoon character AeonFlux.

Personality: Marina is a creature ofparadox: shady, yet moralistic; spiritually wise, yet stubbornand narrow; yearning for companionship, yet staunch and cold.She is technically a law enforcer, but has little more than loathingfor the current government and legal system. She rather enforcesher own codes of justice, which are arguably more upright thananything the judicial system has to offer. She is young, but isthe kind of person who started on real life early, and has seenas much as people ten years older.
From the very beginning of her life Marina has been marked anoutsider, her stripes making her feel out of place and alone.This has led to her aloofness. She seems very dark, except whenwith those she trusts and loves, capacle of tenderness and vulerabiity.It is difficult to get into her mind and heart, but once you area confidante, she loves you passionately. She will trust you fully,but it is almost impossible to regain her trust once it has beenbroken. And then you are an enemy for life.
She seems dangerous, some may think unstable. The former is true,the latter is not. She is highly spiritual, and knows how to findbalance through art or meditation. She is wise beyond her years,and always has been. She has also had some bad experiences, andwhen certain memories are triggered, she may fly into a rage ora terror. But she is generally firmly in control of herself- someargue, overly so. She is frighteningly intelligent (she enteredcollege at 15, graduated at 17), though her emotion can sometimesblind her. She does not give anyone an inch, including herself,and expects those around her to rise to the standards she livesby.
She speaks harshly at times, and her displeasure is always inno uncertain terms. But at other times she is eloquent, even lyrical,and when stirred to do so can speak her mind or heart poeticallyand movingly.

History: Born on Puckworld to just-getting-byparents, she was given up for adoption when it was thought thather stripes might be a symptom of some congenital disorder, inthe hopes that a wealthier family would take care of her. By thetime it was determined she was perfectly healthy, she had alreadybeen legally adopted. Her new family was not exactly abusive,only cold and unemotional towards her. She grew up feeling likean outsider in her own home, without a sense of permanence, andthe feeling that she was in a halfway house. Emotionally deprivedand alone in the world, Marina legally changed back to her birthname, LeWebb, when she left for college.
Throughout her youth, Marina was blind to her striking beauty,her stripes leading her to feel ugly and unwanted by the worldat large. She would wear long clothes in all weather, coveringup her stripes as best she could. Her self-esteem was so low that,starting in her midteens, she tried using sex to boost it, throwingherself at anyone who looked at her in the hopes of validation.It never helped, and she'd always have to go on to the next flingas soon as possible.
In college (which she worked to pay for) she met Duke L'Orangefor the first time, in a criminal psychology class. He didn'tseem to be enrolled in the course or even in the school, but showedup occasionally and sat in the very back, listening intensely.Intrigued, Marina one day followed him after class. She was righton his tail when he turned a corner and disappeared. Already goodat track-downs, Marina stood attentively for a moment, listeningfor a clue, when she heard a swishing sound from above. Lookingup too late, she was suddenly tackled by L'Orange, who, realizinghe was being tailed, had taken to a fire escape to find out whohis stalker was. He recognized her from class, apologized, andtook her for a cup of coffee. They immediately became fast friends.He was the end of her self-hatred cycle- suddenly, through hischaste and genuine attention, Marina began to appreciate herself.With him she felt she could use her intellect to its full capacity,and so many things she had seen as burdens, like her stripes,her brain, and her up-front approach to people, became gifts.The two were like Yin and Yang, as though parts of Duke had gottenmixed up with parts of Marina, and vice-versa, and when they weretogether it all made more sense to them both. Her trust in himwas infinite, and she easily accepted his story about being toopoor to actually enroll in the school.
Once this trust was established, however, it evolved, and thetwo soon became lovers. Then man and wife. The young couple washappy for several years, except that Marina, as a beginning cop,made very little money, so Duke had to "hold down two jobs",which kept him away some nights.
Finally, having quickly risen the ranks in the Police Force,she discovered Duke's real career. He accidentally betrayed herto the Brotherhood, almost getting her killed. In a show of willhuge even for her, Marina divorced the only man she'd ever loved,assuming him the only one she would ever love, and devoted herwhole career to tracking him down. But as he would rather missa few heists than risk hurting her again, she never caught him.They haven't really seen each other since the divorce, thoughDuke sent a few letters before Marina moved to avoid him. Shestill has them, unopened, in the bottom of her closet.
Less than a year afterwards, in an attempt to move on, Marinawas involved in a long-term relationship with a fellow cop. Thoughthey had two children together, Marina would not marry him, andthey broke up when the children were very young. The older wasa girl, Misty Rapture LeWebb, and the younger a boy, Canard CervantesLeWebb. This being before Canard, as we know him, was anyone ofimportance, "Canard" was just a name. But since theassassination, her son goes only by Cervantes or Vante. Only Marinacould get away with calling him Canard. Both children have theirmother's intelligence, and both love each other fiercely, butbeyond that they are very different. Vante has Marina's fervorfor justice (he's studying to be a detective himself) and hersomberness, but a compassion and purity that must have come fromhis father. Misty, on the other hand, has her father's light senseof humor and laid-back attitude, but Marina's harshness, deviousness,and occasional cruelty. That combination has proven explosive.
During the Saurian invasion Marina sent her children with friendshiding out in the desert, and became a covert agent of the Resistance,an undercover liaison in a large slave camp. She risked her ownlife several times getting information to the Resistance, andwas once caught by an overseer. About to be killed, she escapedinto the desert, where she joined her family. She soon led a bandof raiders, not specifically linked to the Resistance, who stoleSaurian supplies and gave them to duck refugees throughout thearea. She was not aware of Duke's involvement in the Resistanceuntil much, much later.
Up until this point, Marina fought with the standard retractablelaser-like saber. But during her time in the desert she encountered,in a sheltered, secluded, almost imperceptible cave, an old manof an entirely different species. Horrified and bewildered, herfirst impulse was to fight him. But the ancient man, a good footshorter than she, disarmed her in a matter of minutes. She'd neverseen fighting like his, and resolved to learn all about him andhis methods.
It turned out that this was a man from some distant universe,from a planet called Earth, and that he had been what his peoplehad called a samurai. For reasons he never totally disclosed,he had been sucked into Dimensional Limbo for what he can onlyimagine was centuries (there is no time in Limbo, and aging ceases),and had recently been dropped, via a weakness in the dimensionalfabric, on Puckworld. He'd been hiding ever since, fearing thenatives. But with Marina he became a fast friend, and a mentor.He taught her everything he knew about swordplay and honor. Butone day, another band of Duck nomads found them, and, fearingthe strange human, attacked. They overwhelmed the two with numbers,slaughtered the Samurai, and left. His last words to Marina werethat it was not her fault, and that his sacred family katanaswere hers. She still blames herself for her inability to havesaved him.
After the mysterious disappearance of Dragaunus, she aided theResistance in mopping up the invasion, and opened a private investigationspractice. She has never approved of Canard's reign or the politicalera following it, but for her children's sake is existing as bestshe can within the system. But business has not been good. She'sspent much time hunting Duke and the gang she's sure he's a partof, knowing somehow that he is still alive.
She still loves him, and she suspects he still loves her to anextent, but their roles in life are too ingrained in them: hecould not abstain from crime for her, and she could not abandonthe law for him. Though she has grimly acknowledged to herselfthat Duke folded first. But now things have come to a head, asMisty has run away and become part of the Brotherhood of the Blade.
Marina still wears the pendant Duke gave her, though she won'tdiscuss its origins. No one knows what's become of her weddingring.

Likes: Her children, her katanas, rightingwrongs, painting, martial arts, and Duke (though she'd NEVER admitit).

Dislikes: Crime, the Puckworld legalsystem, wearing her hair loose, mentions of Duke, and referencesto Misty as a criminal.

Overheard:
-"I'm in an artistic mood. How 'bout I make a Picasso outof your face?"
-"I may be slowly bleeding to death, but why cry over spiltmilk?"
-Duke: "Now, Marina's a sensitive, solitary, reflectiveduck."
Marina: "And if you cross me I'll shred you like a federaldocument."

Said of her:
-Leila: "She's a good mother. She's a better psychopath,a course, but it's nice she has a hobby too."

Other:
She has no siblings that she knows of, and no desire to findthe parents who abandoned her. She is not in contact with theadoptive family she was placed with. Her only family now is herson.

E-mail Marina at:
Lewebb7@aol.com