LaVOISIN

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Human, magic user

Occupation: Writer, Witch

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Devanens, Abbé Guibourg, Hellstorm, Marquise de Montespan

Enemies: Louis XIV

Known Relatives: Marduk Kurios ("son")

Aliases: Catherine DeShayes

Base of Operations: Normandy, France

First Appearance: Hellstorm#16 (July, 1994)

Powers/Abilities: LaVoisin has extensive knowledge of the occult. Her actual abilites are undefined. She may be able to extend her own life physically or reincarnate her spirit to continue to survive.

History: (Hellstorm#20) - <as related by the modern day LaVoisin>
Catherine DeShayes, also known as LaVoisin, lived in the 17th Century France, during the reign of Louis XIV, the "Sun King." In 1768, the Marquise de Montespan, mistress to Louis for decades, found herself out in the cold. Her looks dimmend by seven births, she watched miserably as the king took new lovers. Her misery brought her to DeVanens, a province nobleman who practice alchemy and consorted with occultists. The marquise, having failed with guile and seduction, desired magic to reclaim the king.
DeVanens took the Marquise to LaVoisin, a parisian witch, who extracted great riches from her and forced her through three unspeakably foul black masses, involving the "black monk" of French legend, Abbé Guibourg. The horror resulted in what fairy stories term a "love potion." Introduced into Louis food, it made him sick as a dog, but it worked. In fact, LaVoisin's appalling juice operated for two years.
Louis took a young duchess to bed and thre over the Marquise for good. She went directly to LaVoisin, and paid her to kill the Sun King and the Duchess. Poison, like medicine, was an occult art in the 1600s. LaVoisin, a loyal and excellent magician, made poisoned gloves for the duchess and poisoned paper for Louis XIV.
Remember; the act of murder was the Marquise's, not hers. This little nuance had not occurred to a drunken friend of LaVoisin, who spoke too loudly in the wrong places. LaVoisin was arrested for attempting the worst crime possible in France--regicide. LaVoisin was tortured for a year. Can you even imagine that? Her body was so ruined that, when they finally burned her alive--her legs and back had to be bound and splinted so that she would stay upright long enough to be tied to the stake. but she never betrayed the Marquise. LaVoisin had honor.

 

In the modern era, a French witch, considering herself (at least in her youth), to be the reincarnation of DeShayes, took the name LaVoisin. She accumulated a wealth of occult knowledge, and made a living as a writer of occult fiction and somewhat watered-down magic.

(Hellstorm#16(fb)/21(fb-BTS)) - Hellstorm, seeking to slay his father, a demon calling itself Satan, sought out LaVoisin. From her he gained "Satan's" true name--Marduk Kurios--the secret of which made the demon vulnerable, and allowed Hellstorm to slay him and usurp his role as one of the Lords of Hell. In exchange for this information, Hellstorm was "forced to...donate my seed."

(Hellstorm#20) - After granting an interview to the journalist Jacques Bordenave, LaVoisin received the news that she was pregnant. She asked her servant, Georges, to communicate the message to Hellstorm: "Please inform him it's going to be a boy."

(Hellstorm#21-BTS) - After receiving the message from LaVoisin, Hellstorm commented that dead devils are reborn on Earth. He decided to refrain from telling her that it is almost certainly his father.

Comments: Adapted by Warren Ellis and Leonardo DeManco.

LaVoisin is apparently based on an actual fortune-teller, also known for her work in poisons.

Alas, I doubt the fate of LaVoisin and Marduk Kurios are ever to be seen. More likely, we'll get a (crappy) story revealing that the whole series of Hellstorm took place in an alternate timeline and involved clones, evil twins, and the revelation that Hellstorm's father is really Satannish--oh wait, part of that already happened. Oh well.

CLARIFICATIONS: Not so much


Appearances:
Hellstorm#16 (July, 1994) - Warren Ellis (writer), Leonardo Manco (artist), Marie Javins (editor)
Hellstorm#20-21 (November-December, 1994) - Warren Ellis (writer), Leonardo Manco & Martin Chaplin (artists), Marie Javins (editor)


Last updated: 08/15/02

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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