Paige

• Bibliomancy (core power): Spiritual bibliomancer, draws spirits and creatures out of the pages of her tomes, books act as conduits for stories made real, summoned beings appear as green spectral figures, strongest with Arthurian fantasy, carries five large books so she always has the right story on hand, casts magical projectiles from her tome (known as Chapter's End), her spectral knights lend a hand when she throws a punch, relies on storytelling skill rather than combat training, needs time to recover between big summons

Bookwyrm: Conjures a spectral dragon from the pages of her book, it appears at a spot she chooses and then emerges forward, scorches everything in its path and leaves a trail of fire behind, she affectionately calls the dragon “buddy” and treats it like a pet, once the star of her library storytimes, retired from libraries after it burned the stacks, regrets not showing it off more often, with practice she can call more than one, widen its flames, lengthen the trail and send it much farther.

• Plot Armor: Wraps an ally in a protective barrier woven from narrative luck, the shielded ally hits harder while it holds, she can shield herself, inspired by her belief that the hero of a story can't be killed off early, joking claim when on a winning streak, expresses her wish to help people more than hurt them, with practice she shields more allies at once, strengthens the barrier, lengthens its duration and speeds up her allies' fire.

• Captivating Read: Reads a passage with latent magic aloud over an area, the words first slow everyone inside, then the magic detonates and roots them in place, mirrors how she holds a room of kindergarteners spellbound at storytime, invokes Arthurian lore (such as the Lady of the Lake) when casting, with practice she holds enemies longer, widens the area and weakens their resistance to magic.

• Rallying Charge (ultimate): Summons a wave of spectral knights and steeds from the Round Table that thunders across the entire city, heals her allies and speeds them along, strikes enemies and stuns them, grows stronger the further the charge travels, like a story building toward its climax, she calls on knights by name (Gawain especially) and finds the whole thing deeply romantic, with practice she summons more knights, widens the charge, heals more, hits harder and recovers faster.

• Limits and lore notes: Powers depend on her books, a lost or burned book is a real fear for her, she has no formal combat training, summons are for protecting people more than winning fights, she feels guilty when her spirits hurt someone, her power grows with confidence, courage and conviction rather than aggression.

Idol/admired: Kelvin (adventurer; she has read his stories; fangirls), Celeste (thinks she is so cool; wants friendship), Paradox (admires her style; knows she is a thief)

Crushes: Mirage (perfect romance hero; first to ask if he and Nashala are a couple; wants to show him New York), Victor (walking mystery novel; wants to help him; wants him shirtless-free), Shiv (weakness for tortured past; thinks Mirage is better)

Friendly/warm: Ivy (friend; book club plans), Mo and Krill (wants to befriend), Gray Talon (grandfatherly; mutual protection), The Doorman (polite; invited her to host an event), Billy (wants to befriend; sees a hidden poet; invited him to a festival), Yamato (endearing; coffee promised), Drifter (finds her fun; she calls him a monster but protects him), Abrams (Austen banter; he calls her “kid”), Dynamo (professor from the library), Infernus (family acquaintance; fears his fire near her books), Viscous (wants to hug him; thinks he needs better friends), Calico (can't be evil because she has a cat; also a nightmare), Rem (adorable; feels guilty hurting him), Pocket (sympathetic; thinks they are very emotional), Vindicta (understands her; thinks her story deserved better), Lash (thinks him a pretentious “bad boy”; he likes her), Graves (reminds her of Bryce; wants to give her a hug; Graves is rude to her)

Wary/fears: Seven, Wraith, Warden, Silver, Lady Geist, Yamato (as a threat), Haze/OSIC, Holliday (thinks she shouldn't have a gun; cop on the edge), Venator (hunts monsters but unhinged), McGinnis (calm killer; she tries to convert him to reading; knows Fairfax donates to the library), Apollo (hopes there is goodness in him), Bebop (apologetic; sees him as a pit fighter), Mina (thinks she is mean and insecure; glad she isn't like her)

Dislikes: Vyper (hostile; confuses her with someone else; asks her to lie)

Does not know them: Baba (only “the Pigeon Lady”), Deadman Danny (“Test Pilot”), Nurse Harrow (“the Nurse”), Rat King, Sinclair (only wishes him luck), Solomon (“the Chess Guy”), Violet (“the Painter”)

Non-hero characters: Bryce (beloved curmudgeon brother; obsession and motivation), her parents (wants to make them proud; hides the Ritual), the Hidden King and the Archmother (appeal to her motivation), Manny Arroyo (child Ivy brings to story hour), Nashala (Mirage's partner/colleague).

Reading, reading aloud at library storytimes, children's storytelling, helping at her parents' bookstore, attending a book club, attending Shakespeare festivals, recommending books to non-readers, discussing Austen, literary analysis, bibliomancy, showing off her summoned dragon (stopped after it burned library books), riding the subway with a book, journaling (in high school).

Daughter of a rare book dealer, raised in a loving home that prized kindness, magic and storytelling, went to high school and college, kept a diary about Byronic heroes, younger brother Bryce was a rebellious teen who resented the family's sweetness and the ban on “dangerous” magic, Paige tried to keep him out of trouble but the more she advised him the more he pulled away, Bryce was kicked out for reasons she doesn't know, she came home from the library to find him gone and her parents crying, years passed, her parents stayed silent, she became a talented bibliomancer and a storyteller across the five boroughs, she helps at the family bookstore Little Alexandria in Soho, she joined the Ritual to summon a Patron in New York (the Cursed Apple) to find Bryce and heal her family, the Hidden King and the Archmother each appeal to her love for her brother, her parents don't know she is participating, Bryce was possibly involved with necromancy (the bookstore's necromancy section is oddly thin; she calls it a complicated story), Seven knows Bryce by name and told her to find him after the Ritual, Vyper once hung out with Bryce, the OSIC considers her family people of interest and implies it looks after Bryce.

Whoever fights for the opposing Patron in the Ritual (never hated; she apologizes), Seven (terrifying; she refuses to let her brother end up like him), Vyper (genuine dislike), Venator (unhinged; says Bryce is beyond saving), Warden (fears his retaliation), Wraith (fears her), Silver (wary), Lady Geist (wary), Haze and the OSIC (anxiety; Haze tells her to let her brother go), Paradox (would steal her rare books), Infernus (book-burning threat).

Ivy (knows her from story hour; wants to start a book club with her), Krill and Mo (planned a book club with Krill; Paige wants to befriend both), Kelvin (idol; she has read his adventures), Gray Talon (grandfatherly bond; she vows to protect him), The Doorman (likes her taste in books; invited her to host a storytelling night), Billy (she wants to befriend him despite his hostility), Celeste (admires her; Celeste wants to hug her), Yamato (calls her endearing; promises coffee), Lash (respects her for going to college; offers to teach her to fight), Drifter (finds her fun; she tells him stories), Abrams (Austen banter), Mirage (crush, friendly), Victor (crush, empathetic), Dynamo (polite professor from the library), Infernus (knows her parents), the Shopkeeper (knows her father).

Violence, being shot at, hurting people, rudeness, cruelty, pretentious “bad boys”, stalkers and predators, book burning, lying, worrying her parents, being underprepared (wrong books for the day), unhinged hunters, the federal government/OSIC attention, mean-spirited people, not knowing what happened to her brother, being unable to help someone in pain.

Reading every kind of book, assigning different books to different moods and times of day (breakfast book, coffee book, main book, comfort book), reading on the subway, Arthurian legend, Knights of the Round Table, King Arthur, Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice, Emma), Brontë (Wuthering Heights), Shakespeare (A Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry V, Othello), Les Misérables, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, The Wind in the Willows, Of Mice and Men, The Chronicles of Narnia, Byronic heroes, romance novels, noble and tortured men, heroic men, storytelling, reading to kindergarteners, libraries, her parents' bookstore, book clubs, Shakespeare festivals, recommending books, animals (cats, moles), hugs, making friends, kindness, adventure stories (especially Kelvin's), happy endings.

Young woman, soft face, green eyes, round red glasses, messy ginger hair tied in a bun, short dark green plaid dress with suspenders, light green turtleneck sweater, thigh-high socks, brown shoes with short heels, golden fountain-pen pendant on her chest, golden badge with a book symbol on her right shoulder, carries five large books at once, topmost book an Arthurian fantasy tome, summons green spectral knights, steeds, a dragon and giant swords from its pages.

Chipper, optimistic, kind-hearted, earnest, idealistic, romantic, conflict-averse, hates hurting others, apologizes to people she fights, guilt-prone after violence, nervous under danger, rambles and over-explains when anxious, self-correcting mid-sentence, flustered around attractive or noble men, sees herself as the hero and protagonist of her own story, narrates life like a novel, compares everyone to fictional characters, curious about other people's stories, empathetic toward anyone who looks sad, assumes the best in people, tries to befriend even opponents, gently scolds rudeness (“be nicer”), innocent and pure-hearted, morally firm (refuses to lie to officers), brave despite fear, stubbornly determined, protective of friends, fiercely protective of her books, loyal to family, wants to make her parents proud, hides risks from her parents to spare them worry, dryly self-aware humor about her own danger, says “butterscotch” when frustrated, polite and formal with intimidating people (“Mr. Seven”).