Claire Cavendish
Human (Mutant) Female

Place of Origin: England

Claire stands out, her mutation has manifested in purple skin and matching hair colour. This makes it impossible for her to go around pretending she’d not a mutant and she leans into the exotic nature of her appearance. She does this by dressing in complementary colours, like teal and jade. She keeps her hair long and flowing and prefers wearing it loose. She keeps in shape with a training regiment focused on speed and dexterity, primarily by playing squash. Fully bio available here: https://avalon.lcnessie.nl/index.php/personnel/character/1

Claire was raised very well and posh. She’s had some issues letting go of the cold, stiff-upper-lip, distance that she was taught was ‘proper’ and is liable to comment on improper etiquette at the dining table. Though she has long since given up on teaching the students to this same level she expects the faculty to lead by example. When you get past the heavily groomed exterior Claire is an empathic and warm individual and despite being burnt in the past she quickly includes people in her inner circle. Though a certain level of secrecy is required for her to be successful in her job. Claire is highly interested in Philosophy and Ethics, especially in relation to the historical treatment of minorities and non-hierarchical approaches to organising communities and societies. When she was young she was an avid dancer, however, her interest in team sports and activities waned quickly after her mutation manifested and she has developed a taste for solitary approaches to sports and health. She still dances, but mostly when alone. In addition, she also rollerblades long distances. This is all in addition to playing squash with colleagues in the private court built at Avalon.

When Claire was born in 1955 the world was recovering from the global impact of two world wars in the first half of the century. In that light, her position was privileged being born into a English family of some repute. Her Grandfather had a seat in the House of Lords and the family business in Real Estate allowed the extended family to build their wealth in the rebuilding of London and Western Europe.

Her father, Anthony, was the firstborn son slated to take her grandfather’s position in the family business and in politics. When Claire was born with purple eyes they didn’t think too much of it, and she could enjoy the safe and secure education and upbringing their family allowed. She attended Wycombe Abbey as a boarding student from the age of eleven. She especially thrived in the arts part of the curriculum loving being on stage in plays and dance, or musical theatre.

She did well academically and socially, that is until she turned fourteen. Slowly her hair was getting purple highlights, something she was written up for and was on the brink of being expelled due to her denying dying her hair. Corroborating her story, her mutation started to spread more broadly, colouring her skin in a more and more violet hue as well. Her parents were immediately pressured to withdraw her from the institute. They hired private tutors to allow her to finish her SATs.

By the year 1969, with high marks on her SATs, she was sent off to the United States to attend a special university programme far away from the nosy UK press that was putting her family under much more scrutiny now that her father was being prepared to take over from her grandfather. It was from across the Atlantic Claire had to witness her father taking a front-row seat in the conservative push for more strict Mutant legislation. Being one of five members of a special committee in 1973. She became more and more solitary, the young girl at centre stage was almost completely gone now that everyone could call her out as a mutant with one glance.

Despite the rigid and closed off educational facility for her and other wealthy and influential mutant kids, that didn’t allow her off campus, her time in the US of the seventies had her explore a more free and community-driven society. She and a couple of the others, taking advantage of their abilities snuck out from under the watchful eyes of the faculty. They got themselves involved in the hippie movement that advocated peace, love and understanding for all.

Her biggest regret at that time was that she missed Woodstock by a couple of weeks due to her late arrival to the states. Her friends and her fear of missing out on more historical moments due to her tendency to try and stay out of the spotlight pushed her to take a more active role. She became outspoken against American involvement in Vietnam. When a BBC camera spotted her in the crowd in 1974 her parents immediately intervened once more, pulling her back to the UK and ripping her away from everything she had built over her five years in the States. She resisted at first but with the threat of being cut off from the family wealth, she didn’t have the ideological backbone she thought she would have.

Back in the UK she used the influential connections she had made to start building a network of pro-mutant thinkers, legislators and activists. Her parents provided a secluded place in Wales for her and made her work with one of the local real estate endeavours out in the countryside, under the guise of allowing her to develop herself in the family business. She made sure her activities were kept a secret from her parents.

In the eighties, Claire got bolder as she had been able to build some wealth of her own. Through sponsorships and gifts, she funds pro-mutant endeavours in the UK, also becoming more vocal in the office environment to push for more inclusive policies. When her father gets wind of this she is given another ultimatum. She’s to join an experimental programme for finding a cure for her mutation if she wishes to continue access to financial resources.

Having prepared for this for almost a decade Claire refuses, and plans to become more involved with the Mutant cause, freed from the Cavendish family name. This is when she’s approached by a messenger sent by someone that’s clearly had an interest in her life from a young age. She’s offered an opportunity to establish an institute for kids like her, but done right. With the financial backing of the anonymous donor, Claire is able to create Avalon Institute and open its doors in 1989.

It’s 1992 when the institute is faced with its first real threat to its existence, pushing the existence of the institute and the residents on the campus into the spotlight that Claire had been so deftly trying to avoid since the last time she performed Romeo & Juliet when she was thirteen.