Thanks to  DBD for drawing this for me as one of her Custom Character Commissions! I'd considered trying one of those for awhile, as I liked the idea for some of my characters that I didn't have a defined of a mental image of, so I figured I'd give it a shot and see how it turned out. I'm very happy with the results. :)

Detective Alyssa Sharn is one of my older characters, from the same setting (Shadowdancer) that Persephone is from, albeit she wasn't in any of the stories (she would have showed up a little later on). She's the head of the Chicago Police Department's Paranormal Affairs Department in 2028 - not a very prestigious position, as most of her colleagues think that it's a waste of time and, more importantly, funding. But there's just enough evidence for it, given some of the strange news of the last thirty-five years or so... Also, said department is largely her and her aide, so the bureaucracy figures it's a safe bet either way - not wasting much manpower if it is unneeded, but showing a presence if it is...

She's largely inspired by two detectives from literature - Lieutenants Eve Dallas and Karrin Murphy, with I suppose a hint of Buffy thrown in as well. She's no magician, though she may have a bit of Talent, but is called on to deal with spirits, curses, and who-knows-what else; sometimes, she actually knows enough to handle it, or it turns out to be something simply mundane, but other times, she has to consult with local magic users for assistance - which is how Persephone would know her, for instance.

Despite having such an unusual position, though, she's a no-nonsense cop. She always starts with the assumption that someone is using 'mystic woo-woo stuff' to try to obscure a mundane crime - and often times, she's right. When she's not, well, that's when things get a bit more interesting...

She comes from a line of witch-hunters, usually following the female branches of her family; in fact, this is what guided her into the path she currently walks. When she was just a kit, she was awoken one night by a commotion; to her shock, when she came out to investigate it, she found her father pulling her mother inside, her mother's fur coated in blood. From her wounds and the glassy look in her eyes, it was clear that she wasn't long for the world... but she held herself together long enough to call Alyssa over to her, taking the pentacle necklace from around her neck and pressing it into Alyssa's hand.

The trauma of that evening still haunts her, and parts of her both hope that she never runs into whatever killed her mother - and that she does so that she can take revenge. She refuses to follow the family traditions as a Huntress, but still seeks to protect in the manner she feels best... and she always wears the pentacle, often under her uniform, as a reminder...