Penelope Parris

**Penelope Parris** (formerly known as **Penelope Whitlock**) is a vengeful witch returned to the settlement of Salem Towne after years of exile. She is a character in Kate's American Horror Story: Salem portrayed by Lily Rabe.

## Background

The elder daughter of Blair (a witch, and Supreme Prudence Mather's most trusted Councillor) and Oswald Whitlock (a respected statesman), Penelope Parris was born with a talent for raw, unbridled magic. After the birth of her younger sister Patience Whitlock divided her parents' attentions, Penelope began to act out, taking advantage of her magical abilities in order to bend her family members to her whim.

Penelope loathed her parents' adoration for her little sister, believing herself to possess far greater abilities. As a result, she routinely attempted to distort her parents' view of Patience, using Concilium to control the actions of both her sister and parents, as well as Memory Manipulation whenever Concilium alone failed. This repeated usage of Concilium began to wear away at the physical states of Patience, Blair, and Oswald, but Penelope paid no mind.

When she was fifteen years old, her hatred for her family members was solidified when she was blinded as an indirect reaction caused by Patience's vision. Upon her parents' arrival to the scene, Penelope was harrowed by their sole focus on Patience, when she was evidently suffering far worse. Even despite Patience's best efforts, she was unable to fully heal Penelope's wounds, rendering her blind and bed-bound for months afterwards. During that time, Patience would frequently appeal to Penelope's senses, attempting to express her apologies and constitute some sense of normalcy in Penelope's life- this only caused Penelope to hate her more.

In an effort to reclaim her sight, Penelope charmed the family cat, Thackeray, into clawing out his eyes, which she then substituted for her own. Upon regaining the ability to see, Penelope killed Thackeray and left his body for Patience to find. Blair and Oswald were not nearly as overjoyed as she, however, instead expressing the utter horror they felt at their daughter's continuous cruelty. In January of 1673, the Whitlocks sent Penelope out of Salem Towne and left her to fend for herself. She would return two years later to continue her torment from afar, which resulted in the deaths of her parents and, after destroying their graves, she left the settlement altogether.

## Personality and Appearance

Penelope Parris is a young woman with pale skin, striking blue eyes, and long, blonde hair. Her features are cold and angular, a stark contrast to those of her parents and younger sister. There is a powerful aura about her, one that intimidates regardless of station. She speaks sharply, operating with little regard for the feelings of others. She dresses as ostentatiously as the conservative Puritan Salem will allow, a means of flaunting her supposed success. Outwardly, her eyes appear to be blue and human in nature but, to those who possess the ability to see through disguise spells, they are heterochromic and feline, as Penelope stole them from her family cat in her youth.

She bears a cruel and sadistic personality, not hesitating to harm others for the sake of her own endeavors. Within her marriage, she is excessively dominant, and quite enjoys making a mockery of her spineless husband. Penelope is motivated almost entirely by the thought of revenge, and is willing to extort the resources of even the most unlikely allies so as to obtain that which she desires. She has no need for loyalties of any kind, and both views and treats all others as though they are subservient to her. She is not necessarily charismatic, and is often described in a negative manner, but her abilities and domineering energy lend to her an unmistakable air of superiority.

## Story

### In-Roleplay

Following her falsified marriage to Andrew Parris-a minister who plays at piety to conceal his homosexual desires-Penelope Parris intends to return to the Salem settlement and exact her revenge upon the Coven which ousted her, namely her sister Patience. The execution of a slave woman named Tituba on the grounds of witchcraft presents an interesting situation, and so Penelope eavesdrops on various members of the Coven in an effort to interfere pre-emptively. Through this, she learns of their intent to perform the ritual of the Sacred Taking, sacrificing their current Supreme to allow the next deserving witch to ascend to Supremacy. From there, her plan begins to form.

On the eve of the Sacred Taking, Penelope watches from the shadows, waiting until Supreme Prudence Mather takes her own life before unleashing a centuries-long curse upon the Salem Coven, one which was later broken by Mallory when she killed the Antichrist in the restored timeline. The curse renders Mather's sacrifice useless, obscuring the next candidate for Supremacy and poisoning the Salem bloodlines with bad luck. In order to obtain the power needed to complete the curse, Penelope made deals with various demons, corrupting the heirloom charm given to her by her mother and indebting her soul to them. The curse would affect the Coven regardless, but her soul would only be spared from eternal damnation if she succeeded in exercising dominion over the Salem witches. As she retreats from the scene, she encounters Oakley, the keeper of the Hollow, and bids her to keep silent about what she's seen.

Once Coven meetings resume, Penelope materializes before the Salem Coven, finding their pitiful numbers laughable. Noticing that Alice and the younger witches don't appear to recognize her, Penelope admonishes Patience for keeping her existence secretive. Not fooled by her sister's rebuttals, Penelope continues onwards, declaring herself as the rightful Supreme and promising to lead the Coven towards greatness. If the Coven surrender themselves to her, she assures them that no harm will come to them, but Patience remains unconvinced by both claims. Having given what she feels to be a fair warning, Penelope teleports back home. Although she was hoping for a swift surrender, this gives her an opportunity to return the pain Patience has caused her tenfold.

Retreating down into the cellar of the home she now shares with Andrew, Penelope begins to conduct yet another ritual, summoning a trio of snakes which consume each other whole before ultimately biting off the head of the sole remaining serpent. Satisfied with the evil forces she has conjured into play, Penelope returns to her husband and begins to plan the next phase of her revenge.

### Projected Continuation

* Joining forces with Andrew, Constable Peter Hopkins, and the witch-hunters of Salem, Penelope would aim to begin picking off the surviving members of the Salem Coven, beginning with her sister Patience.
* In the days following her reveal to the Coven, she would approach Oakley with an offer: she would grant the Coven protection if she was able to secure the pendant which Patience wore. Oakley would tentatively agree.
* Finding that she could not get into Patience's home, Penelope would use her newly-heightened abilities to break the protective wards surrounding the building and murder Arthur Van Wirt, leaving him to be revived by Patience and Alice as an assessment of the current abilities within the Coven.
* After Oakley would fail to obtain the pendant, Penelope would once again escalate her plans, this time strongarming Patience into hosting a dinner for herself and Andrew, as well as the witch-hunters of Salem. Once Patience would agree, she would inform Constable Hopkins of the event and persuade him of Patience's guiltiness.
* She would visit Patience in jail on the day of her execution, gloating about all she was finally able to take away from her wretched sister and declaring her excitement at the idea of watching Patience slowly suffocate. As a result, she would be incredibly disappointed to see Patience die instantly.
* After Patience's death and subsequent disappearance, Penelope would set her sights on claiming the Coven and the Hollow as her own. She would then inform the witch-hunters of Salem of its location, uncaring of whether any of her would-be wards were on the premises.
* Deciding that she wanted to witness the destruction in-person, Penelope would find that she is still able to teleport into the Hollow, only to be met by the entirety of the Coven, save for the deceased Deborah Scott.
* She would become entrapped in Oakley's vines, confronted by Patience and Ruth Whatcott, the new heir to the Supremacy, and set aflame upon her refusal to concede and a rejected attempt to appeal to Patience.
* Her death returned her soul to the depths of Hell, where she would face eternal torture as a consequence of failing to hold uphold her end of a bargain with a hellish entity.

## Powers

Penelope is a very powerful natural born witch who has mastered multiple of the Seven Wonders, in addition to showcasing several unique and offensive abilities. Using the tiered ranking list developed specifically for *Salem*, Penelope would be classified as an A-Tier witch.

* Concilium - One of the Seven Wonders, the magical ability to bend the will of another individual and force them to do whatever the user desires. Penelope used this ability on her family members often, damaging their physical health as a result, and relied upon it to keep Andrew bound to her will.
	+ Hypnosis - The magical ability to entrance a victim and make them do anything the user wants them to do, through verbal emphasis.
	+ Illusion Manipulation - The ability to create and manipulate illusions, causing others to see, hear, touch, smell, and/or taste things which do not actually exist, or cause them to perceive things differently from what they truly are.
	+ Imperium Corpus - The ability to control, preserve, or cease the bodily functions of another creature.
	+ Memory Manipulation - The magical ability to manipulate another person's memory in order to either implant false memories into them or erase their memory of specific events.
* Descensum - One of the Seven Wonders, the magical ability to descend into the netherworlds of the afterlife. Penelope routinely descended into her personal version of Hell, wherein she was tormented by a version of Patience.
	+ Astral Projection - The magical ability to displace one's soul from their body and travel across various planes and spaces. Penelope used this ability to enter Patience's home unseen.
* Spellcraft - Affinity for casting spells and performing rituals. The strength of her magical bloodline, in addition to the deals Penelope has made, allow her spells and rituals greater potency and a higher chance of success.
	+ **The Salem Coven's Curse** - Granted to Penelope by means of a deal with hellish entities, this curse bears the ability to curse all those with Salem witchery in their blood with bad luck. It also rendered the Sacred Taking ineffective, entirely preventing the transfer of Supreme ability from Prudence Mather to Ruth Whatcott.
	+ **Union of the Serpent -** A ritual designed to further amplify the effects of Penelope's unnatural power, namely against other witches.

## Quotes

* **To Andrew Parris:** "Aren't I beautiful, Andrew?"
* **To the Salem Coven:** "Do not be afraid, little girls. If you submit to me now, I will not hurt you."
* **To Patience Whitlock:** "Use your powers of discernment, look past my flesh, and take a breath of what it feels like to encounter a budding Supreme."
* **To Patience Whitlock:** "How many have died since you started giving orders? How many *will* die?"
* **To the Salem Coven:** "Behold, your one true Supreme. You know my terms. Submit, and you will live harm-free."

## Notes

* Using her Aura Detection, Patience Whitlock associates Penelope with the color "dull turquoise". Likewise, the key personality traits showcased using this ability are "feminine, envious, and violent".
* Patience and Penelope both make appearances in each other's personal hells:
	+ Within Patience's hell, Penelope appears alongside the bodies of her loved ones, admonishing her for lacking the power to save them. Once the bodies eventually disintegrate away, Penelope is the one to place the noose around Patience's neck, killing her and resetting the cycle.
	+ Within Penelope's hell, a younger version of Patience takes on an entirely separate persona (one which more closely matches that of Penelope herself). She leads Penelope through a series of events that have occurred within their lifetime, tormenting Penelope as her memory has warped and distorted the recollections to remember her sister far more cruelly.