Real
Name: Jennifer Kale Occupation: Sorceress Identity: The
general populace of Earth does not know that Kale is a sorceress. Legal
Status: Citizen of the United States with no criminal record, still a minor.
Former Aliases: None Place of Birth: Citrusvilla, Florida Marital
Status: Single Known Relatives: Joshua (grandfather), Andy (brother) Base
of Operations: Swamp in the Florida Everglades near Citrusvilla, Florida Group
Affiliation: Apprentice to Dakimh the Enchanter, frequent ally of the Man-Thing,
Korrek, and Howard the Duck First Appearance: FEAR # 11History:
In the years just before the Great Cataclysm, the Atlantean
sorceress Zhered-Na prophesied the sinking of Atlantis.
The Atlantean emperor Kamuu was furious and twice ordered Zhered-Na to cease making
this prophecy, but she refused. Possibly Kamuu incorrectly believed that Zhered-Na,
a practitioner of "white" magic, was like the evil sorcerer of the cult
of Darkholders, who originated in pre-Cataclysmic Atlantis. Since Zhered-Na refused
to recant her prophecy of doom, Kamuu banished her from Atlantis forever for blasphemy.
She was set adrift in a small boat, left to the mercy of the winds and tides. Zhered-Na
spent the weeks adrift at sea in meditation, during which she had a vision of
Earth's future, which she believed had been granted her by her god Valka. Finally,
her boat landed on the Thurian shore, and days later she came across a colony
of Atlanteans there on the mainland. She founded a cult of disciples from this
colony, and over the following years taught them sorcery. She also prophesied
that centuries later demons from the realm of Sominus would attempt to invade
Earth, but would be opposed by the Man-Thing.
Among Zhered-Na's pupils was Dakimh the Enchanter, whom she granted seeming immortality,
although in fact he did continue to age at an extremely slow rate. Finally, the
Great Cataclysm began. Atlanteans in the nearby colony wrongly believed it was
Zhered-Na's doing and attacked her cultists. Zhered-Na herself was killed, but
Dakimh and a few other disciples escaped, bearing with them scrolls containing
her mystical knowledge. In recent years Joshua Kale has served as a leader
of the Cult of Zhered-Na, based in the section of the Florida Everglades that
is the mystic Nexus of All Realities. The Cult possessed the sole remaining copy
of the Tome of Zhered-Na, a book containing her mystical knowledge. Kale's
teenage granddaughter Jennifer took an interest in witchcraft, and, using one
of his books without his knowledge, experimented in summoning a demon. She succeeded
in bringing the powerful demon Thog the Nether-Spawn to Earth from the otherdimensional
world of Sominus without realizing he would not be under her control. But the
Man-Thing saved Jennifer's life, and Thog was forced back to Sominus. As a result
of a subsequent encounter of the Man-Thing, Jennifer, and Thog, Joshua Kale realized
that Jennifer had a psychic link with the Man-Thing Later, Jennifer and
the Man-Thing were magically transported to the otherdimensional world of Sandt,
where they first met Dakimh, now an aged wizard. Dakimh pretended to want to have
Jennifer and the Man-Thing killed and had the Man-Thing fight in a gladiatorial
arena. But in fact he was testing the Man-Thing's powers and Jennifer's spirit,
to make certain they were the beings he was waiting for. The Man-Thing triumphed
in the arena, and Dakimh sent him and Jennifer back to their swamp. The
Tome of Zhered-Na somehow disappeared, and as a result, Earth was now vulnerable
to invasion from Sominus. Dakimh appeared to Jennifer, and explained his true
purpose to her: to save Earth from the demons. He magically garbed her as a priestess
of Zhered-Na's cult and, assisted by Dakimh and the Man-Thing; Jennifer recovered
the Tome from an otherdimensional world and brought it to Earth, temporarily halting
the invasion. Jennifer became Dakimh's apprentice in sorcery. Jennifer was
later captured by Thog, who now intended to invade Therea, home of godlike beings,
and to conquer all reality. Dakimh rescued Jennifer, and the two set out with
their three allies, the Man-Thing, Korrek, warrior prince of the otherdimensional
world of Katharta, and the extradimensional talking waterfowl called Howard
the Duck, to stop Thog's plans. While they traversed dimensions, Howard accidentally
fell back to Earth, but the other four arrived in Therea, where the Man-Thing
defeated Thog.
Dakimh continued to train Jennifer in the knowledge and use
of Zhemd-Na's sorcery, but her studies were seemingly halted
when Dakimh was killed in battle. However, Dakimh's spirit
has continued to manifest itself on the Earthly plane in a
seemingly physical form, and so Dakimh is continuing to train
Jennifer even in the present. Jennifer has already become
a powerful sorceress, and will probably one day become the
equal of Zhered-Na herself. She has also helped in defeating
various mystical menaces, allying herself not only with Dakimh
but with the Man-Thing, Korrek, Howard
the Duck, Doctor Strange,
and Spider-Man.
Kale was later summoned
by the mystical Omen in forming the Legion of Night, who faced the immediate threat
of a Fellowship awakening the dragon Fin Fang Foom and making all reality a dream.
Kale fought alongside her teammates against the nightmares of Foom, and the dragon
retreated, ending the threat. The Legion decided to band together, since this
was but a first step in increasingly larger occult threats. Height:
5 ft. 6 in. Weight: 122 lbs. Eyes: Blue Hair:
Blonde Strength Level: Jennifer Kale possesses the normal human strength
of a woman of her age, height and build who engages in moderate regular exercise. Known
Superhuman Powers: Jennifer Kale is a highly skilled sorcerer whose knowledge
and power continue to grow as her studies continue. Like most sorcerers on Earth,
Kale's magic is derived from three major sources: personal powers of the soul
/ body / mind derived through developing one's own psychic resources (such as
thought-casting), powers gained by tapping this universe's ambient magical energy
and employing it for specific effects, and powers gained through tapping extradimensional
energy by invoking entities or objects of power existing in mystical dimensions
tangential to this one. Strictly speaking, Jennifer Kale does not have superhuman
powers. Only the ability to manipulate mystical energy lies within an Earth-born
sorcerer, not the energy itself. Theoretically, any Earth being can tap into an
infinite amount of mystical energy. However, each person is limited by his or
her own amount of training, discipline, knowledge and enlightenment as to the
mystical arts. Jennifer Kale's progress as a student of magic has been rapid.
She can already cast a wide variety of spells, most of which have not yet been
depicted, and is a formidable opponent in mystic battle. When her training is
complete, she will be one of Earth's most powerful practitioners of sorcery. Dakimh
is teaching Kale a kind of sorcery mastered and taught by the pre-Cataclysmic
Atlantean sorceress Zhered-Na. The degree to which Zhered-Na's system of magic
resembles the systems of magical knowledge followed by other sorcerers, such as
Doctor Strange, is not known. Jennifer Kale possesses a psychic link with
the Man-Thing. Although her grandfather once claimed that the link had been severed,
it probably still exists. |