Alba Garcia

Project: Flora Black: 2000 - 2005
Alec Holland's research on the effects of meteor rock on certain flora was stolen by Holland's murderer, Anton Arcane. Anton brought this data to Gotham City where it was sold to Gotham State University's acclaimed botanist, Dr. Jason Woodrue. Using this data, Woodrue began to perform all manner of strange experiments with meteor enriched plants and to help yield faster results, he farmed out much of his research to his most gifted students: such as Phillip Sylvain and Pamela Isley.

Unknown to Professor Woodrue was the fact that Sylvain was also an amateur occult herbologist. After seeing what the meteor enriched flora could do, Phillip became obsessed with producing homunculi in the form of plant-produced human replicas. Though Sylvain's research never produced much success while in school, he did refine his formulas and rituals on his own.

In 2005, he had a breakthrough and produced three seeds in his occult greenhouse in Burnside. When the first specimen was grown to maturity, Sylvain began a relationship with the "woman" who he named 'Flora Black' (unimaginative as that was, it was also what he had codenamed the research project itself). This turned out to be quite the nightmare for Flora as she soon realized that her lover and creator did not see her as a person in her own right. In addition to the intimate acts expected of her, Flora was also the subject of many experiments and strange rituals on her, as Sylvain claimed there was still "room for improvement".

This abuse came to a head after she learned that Sylvain was planning to do the same with Flora's two seed-sisters who were still incubating. Not wishing her sisters to share in her pain, Flora attempted to kill her creator with some garden sheers. In the resulting struggle, a power outlet was damaged and sparks ignited some fertilizer. Both Flora and her creator died in a horrific fire, but in her final moments of life, Flora transmitted her knowledge to her sisters, stirring them to life.

Alba Garcia: 2006 - 2007
From the ashes of the fire, two nude female beings crawled from the debris of Sylvain's greenhouse. One had the appearance of a teenager while the other was a child. After causing a stir in their confused state as they stumbled through Burnside, both fled into Slaughter Swamp as they heard police sirens approaching.

Drawn to a remote mill with incredible magical potential, the girls were found by the resident of the mill. Ystina took the pair in and saw that they were fed, clothed, and cared for. Ystina even secured the two girls names through buying some ready made burner identities from the black market and later having Greg Saunders pull some strings to make them even more legit. The oldest seed-sister became Alba Garcia and the youngest took the persona of Susan Linden.

Alba Garcia: 2007 - 2008
A year later, Ystina gave the mill to John Constantine and moved to Gotham City. Alba decided to stay with Constantine to learn more of the magical world that intrigued her while Ystina took the younger Suzy with her to fulfill the girl's dream of going to school and learning more about the world.

Black Orchid: 2008 - Present
Missing Data

Supplemental Reports

 * (Submitted by Herald) How comparable are Suzy Linden and her sister Alba Garcia to the sporeling species created by Pamela Isley? Are they a cousin species? Are they perhaps the same species? Or are they entirely different?
 * (Submitted by Oracle) As Phillip Sylvain was reportedly a big Mucous Membrane fan, having listened to their music in the greenhouse while working, Alba finds herself a reluctant fan and can't help but stop to listen whenever she catches John Constantine mumbling song lyrics under his breath. If John actually belts out some lines, Alba grins like a schoolgirl.

Resources

 * Magical Botanical Physiology: Alba's body, while having the appearance of flesh and blood, is actually made up of plant materials. She has human organs (or their equivalents) and functions much the same way a human does, but she is not a human at all, only a highly sophisticated plant-based homunculi.
 * Chlorogenesis: Through manipulation of essence, Alba can create plant-life. The more sophisticated the plant-matter created in this manner, the more draining the essence requirement.
 * Chlorokinesis: Alba can use essence to influence plant-matter in her proximity. Using this ability, Alba can shape and manipulate plants, causing them to grow, move, or attack. She can even mutate plants into other forms by directly rearranging the plant's DNA structure through magic.
 * Empathic Reception
 * Enhanced Physicality
 * Pheromone Pollen
 * Photosynthetic Healing
 * Shapeshifting
 * Special Respiration
 * Supernatural Senses
 * Master Manipulator: Alba is a master of convincing others to believe information that is not true or to accept her biased account of events.
 * Expert Alchemist: Alba has been trained in the hermetic discipline of alchemy. She is well-versed in the distillation, brewing, and application of potions.
 * Expert Occultist: Alba is well-versed in all manner of occult practices, supernatural creatures, and esoteric rites and rituals.
 * Apprentice Sorceress: Though her essence manipulation is more closely attuned with shaping plant-matter or plant-based effects, Alba has begun to show some ability toward general sorcery, such as illusion spells, healing spells, and creating protective barriers.

Weaknesses

 * Herbicide
 * Photosynthetic Requirement
 * Prone to Dehydration

Trivia

 * She learned under Richard Occult.

Links and References

 * Appearances of Alba Garcia
 * Character Gallery: Alba Garcia