Odette Caplan

Odette Caplan is a student at Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, specializing in golemancy under the Knowledge Discipline. She is also the de-facto leader of Rebecca Proctor's efforts among her students to curb the spread of magikin and the destabilization of magic.

Background
Odette was born to Alexander and Holly Caplan and grew up with a fairly simple and carefree childhood. She knew both of her parents were Magicians from the moment she could understand it, and Odette cast her first spell at the age of five, when she skinned her knee riding a bike and mended it all on her own. Holly, enthusiastic to begin teaching her spells as soon as possible, helped her strengthen her mental wards to protect herself from Psychic interference, as Holly was a Psychic herself. Alexander taught her about runes and golems, and Odette went to bed reading high-level tomes on the ancient magics.

The first real hardship that Odette experienced was when she was ten. Holly grew incredibly sick. A routine doctor's visit ended with her being diagnosed with an aggressive form of lung disease. Suddenly, her mother only had six months to live. Just as the doctor said, she passed away nearly six months after her diagnosis, on July 11th, 2007 -- one day before Odette's eleventh birthday.

From that day on, Odette's entire life changed. Her father threw himself even further into his work, and Odette found a strange amount of freedom from the lack of parental supervision. She met a Devoid, named Colleen Kilroy, on her first day of middle school. She had heard rumors about Colleen's bad behavior, and initially tried to sit away from her at the school assembly. Colleen called her out for it, and the shy Odette realized that she had unfairly hurt the girl's feelings, and surrendered to rumors that had no truth to them. From them on, they began spending time together, and quickly became best friends.

Odette's friendship with Colleen came with a lot of responsibility, as her new best friend had a horrible home life. Her mother, Marian Kilroy, was a washed-up model with a superiority complex and an abusive nature, and her father, Christoph Landau, was an exhausted, unhappy alcoholic beaten down by the trauma of being married to Marian. Odette became a caretaker to Colleen, helping her through bulimia and attempted suicide.

Towards the end of middle school, Odette was studying in a magical nook she'd found when she was discovered by Chance Holloway and his Hedge, consisting of his boyfriend Harold Waterman and their friends Damien Embery, Clarissa Barnes, Jonas Huxley, and Ren Parrish. Odette had been warned of Hedges by the general Magical community, but found them to be incredibly friendly and laid-back, wanting nothing more than to practice magic in peace. Having no magical friends of her own, Odette began to spend time with them, becoming especially close to Damien and counting him as another one of her best friends, alongside Colleen (they even met a few times). As she passed into high school, Odette balanced her magical life with her regular one, continuing to take care of Colleen through more abuse and another suicide attempt. As Odette helped the Hedges learn more magic, their interests expanded beyond simple spells. Chance had once been a student of Havermore, but had been expelled and his magical knowledge from his time there locked away after using necromancy to bring a cat back to life. He still had a vested interest in forbidden magic, and despite the protests of Harold (now his fiancé), Chance eventually swayed the rest of the group to his way of thinking.

And so, on July 31st, 2012, the group attempted said forbidden magic, which Chance had procured through a very painstaking and dangerous dive through the magical black market. Unfortunately, this spell went very wrong, and resulted in the deaths of Clarissa, Jonas, and Ren when their bodies were evaporated in the process. Odette, Damien, and Chance were the only survivors (Harold did not attend the ritual), with deep-running consequences. Damien's were the least invasive, red lines running down his arms and at times occasionally disrupting his magic, causing a spell he cast to shift and instead turn the target to gold temporarily, before turning to dust. Chance slowly went insane, a magical red glow taking over his eyes, where he could see everything in the universe and beyond all at once, but couldn't grasp onto the knowledge for longer than a few seconds. Odette herself stopped having periods, and found that she no longer needed to eat or sleep nearly as much as a normal person. In addition, substances such as alcohol did not affect her to the same extent that they used to, and she also would heal from cuts and bruises much quicker than normally possible. They also were granted access to a special Room through a Door that appears only for them, where they can speak to a personification of the magic they attempted to control.

The ritual left a terrible scar on the room it was cast in, and the three of them could no longer be in the same vicinity without interrupting the magical balance of the area. Shortly after the event, Harold commits suicide over his guilt at not stopping the group from attempting the ritual. Traumatized over what had happened, Odette cut ties with Chance and Damien and went back to solely hanging out with Colleen. She still continued her magical practices, and started getting runic tattoos to supplement her magic. It was through her first visit that she found her blood had turned a bright red, and strengthened magic when applied.

Colleen came out shortly after this event, and Odette threw herself entirely into supporting her. But another tragedy struck -- on November 7th, 2012, Christoph brutally killed Marian in their kitchen, and called the police on himself shortly after. Odette protected Colleen as much as possible throughout this time, and secretly was glad that Marian had died, to rid her abuses from Colleen's life forever. Odette pressed Colleen to continue school, and on June 20th, 2014, they graduated high school.

Odette and Colleen both attended New York University (NYU), Odette focusing on a history degree. Shortly after beginning their freshman year, Colleen met Fang Yan, a Psychic, at a business fair, and the two hit it off right away. With someone else able to take care of Colleen, Odette was able to continue focusing on her magic, a renewed interest in runes and golemancy taking hold.

On July 1st, 2016, Odette received an email inviting her to take the entrance exam to Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy. She had heard of the school from Chance, and knew of its exclusivity. However, she also had interest in Fenghuang in China after hearing Fang speak of it. She decided to take the exam, and is invited to join the class of 2021.

On July 20th, 2016, she accompanied Fang on a trip to China and was accepted into Fenghuang after a preliminary examination. On her flight home, she had a terrible nightmare that she couldn't remember what her father looked or sounded like.

When she returned home on July 25th, her nightmare turned out to be true. Her father was missing, and she truly couldn't remember the sound of his voice or his appearance. All pictures of him were blurred out, and a call to Colleen made it sound like he had gone traveling for work. After alerting the authorities, they came to the conclusion that Alexander Caplan had been afflicted with an incredibly powerful memory curse that affected his literal existence. All attempts to locate him failed, and suddenly, Odette was left without answers.

Still, she had to continue living. Odette decided to remain in the States, and began her education at Brakebills on September 5th, 2016. She did not integrate with the social scene of the school, becoming friends only with a fellow first-year named Eddie Liang and spending most of her time studying for Brakebills and NYU both. She completed her bachelor's degree in history a year early, and continued helping Colleen with her degree in sociology. She also attends summer school the summer before her third year, and develops a friendship with Korrigan Lynch, the alchemy professor.

Book I
Odette starts her morning at The Bean in the East Village, where Colleen works, then heads off to a portal to Brakebills for her Language & Application third-year class. When she arrives late, she is forced to get through an Unlocking Rune placed on the door by Santiago Terryhew, and is later partnered with Anderson Thackery for an assignment, much to the chagrin of mean girl Lola Gordon. Odette doesn't like Anders much because of his egotistic attitude and flirtation attempts, but they manage to work pretty well together nonetheles, and agree to meet later to finish the assignment. Odette attends her Independent Study run by Gareth Jones and Melinda Stone, where she shows them Mouse, a very simple golem she created to entertain her maltipoo puppy Toodles. He goes to her dorm room later, and while finishing up the first part of the assignment, something triggers the school's security wards and Dean Rebecca Proctor calls for a quarantine. Anders stays over, sleeping on the floor.

Eddie teases Odette about Anders sleeping over due to his promiscuous reputation, but Odette rebuffs the implication. She heads into the city to hang out with Colleen, where Colleen learns about Anders. She makes a pit stop at Fang Yan's penthouse, where Colleen lives. She and Fang discuss the strange fluctuation in magic that occurred on October 5th, which has been dubbed the Event by magical media. Back at school, Dean Proctor holds an assembly to discuss the Event, and blames it on a dimensional shift. A first-year standing near Odette comments that it sounds suspicious, but Odette doesn't question it. She goes to Anders' room to continue their assignment for Terryhew, and they bond over video games. Their studying is interrupted by Luna Gordon, Lola's little sister and the same first-year from before.

A friendship develops between Luna and Odette, and the former manages to convince Odette to attend the Physical Cottage's Halloween party. Anders greets them, and Odette surprises the pair by letting loose with a lot of drinking and some cocaine use, which she used to do when clubbing with Colleen. While wandering the party, she accidentally catches Lola and her best friend Roxie in an argument, seemingly about Roxie and Lola's feelings for each other and Lola's tumultuous hookups with Anders. She escapes the scene and goes outside with Luna and Anders. Eddie's arrival surprises everyone, as he's been sick, and he startles the party when his shadow detaches from him and attacks the party-goers. Gareth Jones appears to subdue the shadow creature, and quickly leaves.

They take Eddie to the infirmary, and he believes that he was taken over by a magikin. Odette believes him, in spite of the official Court statement through Declaration Thirteen that magikin were a hoax perpetuated by Trappers to gain power over the magical world. Anders declares they need a copy of Bellweather's Bestiary, a banned tome. Dean Proctor visits Odette and Eddie later and tries to convince them not to pursue the magikin thread, dropping a hint about the creature possibly being a Doppelgänger. On Odette's way to see Anders and Luna, she receives messages from Damien and Chance for the first time in a long time. Odette, Anders and Luna go to Professor Jones' office and manage to steal the orb containing the magikin. She and Anders go into the city and meet Aiden Thackery, Anders' cousin, who provides them a copy of Bellweather's owned by Anders' estranged father, Kieran. Odette and Aiden are smitten with each other right off the bat. Odette then introduces Colleen to Anders, and they hit it off right away.

On November 5th, 2018, Odette is called from Korrigan Lynch's class to meet with a visitor, who turns out to be Damien. Odette is shaken from seeing him after six years. After initial hostility over the estrangement, Damien and Odette reconcile somewhat, and Damien shares his experiences with a mysterious magikin that attacked his Hedge up in Harlem. Anders, upon meeting Damien, erroneously believes that he and Odette used to date, but Odette quashes the thought immediately.

Odette is confronted by Eddie and Luna over their involvement with the doppelgänger, wanting to join in on her and Anders' plan to try and talk to the creature. They accept, realizing that it wouldn't be fair to leave them out of the loop. Later on, Odette is messaged by Aiden, who wants to take her out on a date. She enthusiastically accepts, and they bond over drinks and dessert. Odette is impressed that he works in the financial sector, appreciating how put-together he is in comparison to her and her friends.

Korrigan approaches Odette and Eddie, worrying about their safety, but they shake off his suspicions for the time being. Odette invites Anders to Colleen's Thanksgiving party, hoping it will give him some confidence as he struggles with his Phosphoromancy spell meant to trap the doppelgänger, while she works on her golem shell for it. Against her better judgment, Odette calls Chance to ask for his help with the spell.

On November 24th, Odette takes Anders to meet Chance, who speaks cryptically of another timeline where Anders overdoses. Odette explains to Anders that a spell went wrong, affecting Chance's mental capacity, but that he always speaks some sort of truth. Chance provides them with the ending of Anders' spell, written in yet another timeline. She goes on another successful date with Aiden.

They successfully trap the doppelgänger in Odette's golem. He speaks about a great darkness, and waking up after a long slumber, and confirms that magikin can be born from magic on Earth, but also migrated from other worlds that were destroyed. Now rendered harmless, the group names him Samson and lets him live in the shell of Odette's golem. They posture over the Event further, but are unable to answer definitively what the return of magikin means for the world.

Odette and the group travel to assist Damien with a magikin attack on December 12th, 2018. She meets Nariah and Tyrell Walsh, two Hedge Witches, and learn that they were beset by Lavellan. The group travels into the sewers to find and burn the nest, and run into a mysterious, vampiric figure and the corpse of another Hedge Witch. They manage to find the nest and kill the lavellan, but Odette is disturbed by the sudden presence of the creature. She also meets Mama and Papa Brown, the Hedge caretakers. Later on, Aiden takes Odette again, and they share their first kiss. He asks her to be his girlfriend.

Eddie alerts the group that a Hedge Witch bodega near his home in Chinatown was attacked. While investigating, Odette meets Alexandra Kent for the first time, and discovers Anders also used to be a Hedge Witch. Suddenly, the vampire creature from the sewers appears and attacks, ripping Luna's stomach open. Odette portals them back to Brakebills, right into Curator Gideon Foster's garden, where he and Professor Lynch help stabilize Luna long enough to bring her to the infirmary.

Professor Jones confronts Odette over their taking of Samson, Luna's condition, and their magikin hunting. He promises not to say anything to Dean Proctor, and offers to teach them Battle Magic properly. She spends an evening with Anders, where she confesses that the magic that changed Chance changed her just as much.

Book II
Odette, Anders, and Aiden enjoy a quiet Christmas Eve at Aiden's apartment. Eddie contacts them, having researched vampires after Luna's attack by the Nachzehrer, and they meet up with him and Luna to go over another freak attack from another creature. Lola is with the group initially, and they go to confront a Yuki-onna. The battle goes awry quickly, and they are saved by Professors Amanda Hayworth, Jones, and Lynch. The professors provide another offer to teach them the proper way to hunt magikin, with the unofficial backing of Dean Proctor who had been testing their resolve in this fight the entire time. Odette and the group accept. Odette returns to Aiden without Anders, and has sex for the first time.

Starting January 7th, 2019, when they return from break, Odette and the others begin their training in the pocket dimension created at the Brakebills gazebo.

Odette attends Colleen's twenty-second birthday party, where Aiden asks a very severe-looking man if he works with his father, Eldin, though the conversation goes nowhere.

Along with Eddie and Professor Jones, Odette investigates a new string of magikin attacks up in Harlem. They discover that the creatures, Preta, have been attacking porta-potties and women's shelters, attracted to HIV-infected blood. Damien becomes distressed at this discovery, and they head back to the Hedge safehouse to protect someone who would be in danger. Though they initially assume that it's Tyrell, Odette realizes it is Nariah who is in danger, and helps her use one of her homebrewed spells to be rid of the attacking preta.

Tasked by Professor Jones to find an enchanted globe, Odette goes back to her home in Noho and looks through her missing father's belongings to find one. Later, while practicing Battle Magic with Kor, she recognizes the pin on his collar as the same pin in her father's belongings. She passes out from some sort of mental strain, waking later in Kor's condo. He realizes that he does know her father, a tiny crack of the curse coming undone, and reveals that the both of them were in the Grey Society -- an alchemical society studying the Event before its occurrence. He explains that Alexander Caplan was interested in the Philosopher's Stone, a very illegal object. Odette realizes he must have wanted to use it to bring Holly back to life, and is probably on the run from the Court as a result.

Odette meets with Serenity Collins, who accidentally wandered into their pocket dimension right after Odette collapsed, and has been flagged as a possible recruit to the cause. She bonds with her fellow student, and tries to convince her to join. Later that evening, the Door pays her a visit, but Odette doesn't go in.

On Valentine's Day, Odette meets Tiberius Callum and Kristin Lambert. Kristin warns them of a female vampire, indistinguishable from a human, who attacked her entire Hedge. Kristin leads them to where the vampire was last seen, where it/she commands the nachzehrer to kill them. Odette and Damien use their unique powers to help subdue it, and Anders beheads it, finally killing it. The female vampire, Athia Hobbs, congratulates them for their victory, and then warns them they will pay for killing her children. Hopped-up on adrenaline after the victory, Odette and Aiden have a very intimate Valentine's evening.

She and the group are chastised by Professor Jones for going after the nachzehrer so recklessly, but he praises Odette's leadership skills. They share an awkward moment after she asks him about her father (to which he has no answer), and then explains her wish to continue with golemancy. Later, Jessica Abbot approaches her on how to talk to Anders, but she is not able to provide a good answer. Odette presses Serenity on her answer. Serenity is also taken to meet Colleen, and Odette learns that a magikin is stalking Colleen.

Now with Serenity on their team, they resolve to go after the Alp plaguing Colleen. With Fang and Serenity's help, the group enters Colleen's dreams. Odette is taken from the rest of the group by a dream version of Christoph. She walks through Colleen's memories of Marian and Christoph, distorted by the alp, and relives the testimony of Christoph's admission in killing his wife, whom he believed was a monster. When trying to subdue the alp, it hops into Odette's mind, and she retreats into the Door in order to protect herself from it, only leaving when Anders manages to destroy it using a mind version of Peterson's Illusory Meteor. They are disturbed by the world in her head, but Odette refuses to acknowledge any problems.

Odette attends the Brakebills job fair on March 13th, 2019, where she meets Eldin Thackery, and is introduced to the Rose Society, a more public alchemy society very different from the Grey Society. He offers her his card. She also meets Rupert Kent, after he implies a job offer to Eddie after he performs well on a test.

On April 10th, Odette summons Eretz for the first time, though is assisted by her blood after she accidentally cuts her hand. She argues with Professor Jones about her mental state, denying any problems in spite of what he saw in her head. That evening, Odette takes Anders to Staten Island under the pretense that he is going to a job interview. She, Luna, and the others surprise him with a birthday party, though she is angry that Aiden cancels last-minute for his job.

Despite their training, Odette is unprepared when Athia Hobbs attacks Brakebills directly on April 21st, 2019, resulting in the deaths of Jessica and Professor Stone.

Book III
Odette, in the city with Eddie when the attack happens, tries to comfort him after Amanda calls them to explain what happened. She later tries to help Anders, who has taken Jessica's death especially hard, and Luna, who is traumatized from witnessing the murders.

With the Court's interference after the murders, Odette is forced to put her training on hold, and suggests that they work with the Hedges instead to keep the professors from being accused of teaching illegal Battle Magic and perpetuating the 'myth' of the magikin.

She later meets up with Damien and the Harlem Hedge, working with Tiberius, Alexandra, and the Downtown Hedges. Ingram Faulkner introduces himself, stirring up trouble with his implication that they should take the fight to the Court. Odette dislikes Eddie's ultimatum that he can take away the Battle Magic they teach the Hedges to keep them safe from magikin, but understands the decision. Odette also meets Lucrezia, who thinks she knows her from somewhere.

Odette learns that Aiden was attacked by one of Athia's children, which makes it even more personal for her. On April 28th, 2019, Odette attends the vigil for Professor Stone and Jessica. Later, they meet up to discuss the vampire that attacked Aiden -- a man named Phil -- at the Battery Park Hedge. While Luna and Serenity go to investigate the scene, Odette discerns that Alexandra and Anders used to be in a relationship, but doesn't say anything about it. Eddie reveals to her and Anders that Dean Proctor asked him to leak pictures of Jessica and Professor Stone's dead bodies to the dark web, before the Court doctored their corpses, in order to spread the truth of what happened.

They determine the best way to defeat Athia, a Baobhan Sith, is by using blood laced with penicillin through a powerful healing ritual. Odette asks Alexandra for her help.

Later on, Odette feels pain when Damien and Alexandra helps Chance escape Athia's attack by going to the room where their friends died.

Odette takes Aiden home from the hospital on May 1st, 2019, where they have sex again. She later receives a call from Chance, who confirms that the best place to fight Athia would be the Mirror Realm.

Odette completes her last final on May 3rd, 2019, and successfully summons Eretz without the help of her blood. Skip Jeffries invites her and the group to spend time at the bar he'll be working at after graduation, Ivory, if they need a base outside of school. She recruits Professor Jones to help them kill Athia, and lays out a plan for them to subdue her. She convinces Eddie to keep his internship with Rupert Kent, as long as it doesn't cause any problems with the other Hedges. When Odette makes the decision to put Anders in the back and away from her, they get into a bad argument, where she accuses him of being unable to control his fear of Athia.

At Dean Proctor's announcement later, Odette learns select students will be offered a chance to visit Heka-Aaru for a summer school program.

Odette suffers a near-breakdown when she meets up with Chance at the apartment, which has been twisted by the dark magic they used that caused the death of their friends. They lure Athia and her monsters into the Mirror Realm, where Odette successfully assists Luna in killing her by throwing herself in front of one of Athia's attacks. They end up trapped in the Mirror Realm, however, with Anders' agreement with Odysseus the only thing getting them out.

They quickly learn that they had been trapped in the Realm for weeks, with the trip to Egypt only three days away. Odette takes Chance back to Bay Ridge, where Damien is waiting for them. Unable to be near each other due to their spell gone wrong, Odette once again enters the Room, where she speaks with a mysterious figure. She wants to atone for their mistake, but does not know how.

Returning several missed calls from Aiden while on her way to see him, Odette learns that he accepted a job promotion in Denmark. He proceeds to break up with her over the phone, finally hanging up on her in order to take a work call. She goes to spend her last few days in the city before the trip with Colleen.