The background to the family of Quinn mirrors that of the Veronas and the Capulets, with a touch of Hatfields versus McCoys. Long running family feuds are something of legend, something that has been romanticized in stories and movies time and time again. In this situation it is not a piece of fiction when the feud between the Umbra and the Niveus is mentioned. It has lasted far longer than that of the Hatfields and the McCoys and has taken many more lives. One thing that sets this feud aside from the others, and perhaps a fact that could land it a Hollywood contract, is that magic is involved.
It was once said that the very embodiment of the battle between the two covens is comparable to the battle between darkness and light, good and evil. To label either family is difficult but from one particular standpoint the title of evil would have to be given to the Umbra. Even the very name speaks of darkness and so does their actions. For one Gregory Umbra the title is extremely fitting. It would be impossible to speak of his motivations without actually being him, but to the Niveus it was clear: genocide.
The man's foul deeds left most of the Niveus eliminated save for a few branches of the family. One of those branches was the birth family of Quinn. She was raised as a child of magic from the moment of her birth, her parents opting to not hide the truth from her at all. A burden for a child, perhaps, but the dwindling numbers of their coven led them to their actions. The serious nature of her very being and the murder of her family caused her to be an extremely serious child. Rarely would she actually go out with other children and play. She preferred to stay inside, with her parents, making sure that she wouldn't come back to them being killed. Due to her reclusiveness she took up reading rather than sports, at least prior to her teenage years. All the while she waited, wishing that she could be as magical as her parents.
Luckily for all parties involved she was able to keep the family secret. In fact, not only did she keep the secret but she actually became to resent it more and more as she grew older. Not only did she not seem to be able to use magic but it was the source of so many deaths. Her parents urged her not to give up as she was still far too young to develop any abilities. Quinn continued to turn to her books as she waited, reading as much about supernatural beings as possible. Authors seemed to romanticize everything about them but all she could see was blood and death. Even her own kind had a shaky history, even if just the Umbra, which left her with an extremely sour taste in her mouth.
Quinn's parents were far from ignorant of the path that their daughter was on. They decided to use it to the fullest as opposed to allow her to self destruct when she did get older. They kept reinforcing that there is good and evil to all things, even supernatural, and that she should concentrate on being on the good side. To help curb her growing anger they attempted to encourage her to join sports teams. Nothing really seemed to help her as she simply wasn't interested. Finally her father, Michael, decided to enroll her in some form of martial arts. It wasn't so much to teach her to fight as it was to help expel the negative energy.
By the time she made the change from pre-teen into teenage years, Quinn was already knee deep in Jeet Kun Do. It gave her exposure to the outside world and it helped with her anger issues. Even so, she never forgot how she felt. She was just able to deal with her feelings that much better.
Several more years of Jeet Kun Do, books and isolation passed. The teen really had no friends but she at least wasn't a total outcast. Friendships were just left for school and school alone. There was no way that she could expose anyone to her family, especially not if and when she developed powers. And she did develop powers at the age of seventeen. This is normally where one would insert the typical embarrassing story of how they discovered their powers and somehow managed to hurt/upset/etc someone unsuspecting. However this just wasn't the case for Quinn.
One particularly rainy night she was alone in her room practicing her Jeet Kun Do. A large crash of lightning not too far from her home pulled her from her near trance like state, causing her to literally jump. When her mother came in to check on her, she was unable to locate Quinn. The teen figured it was some lame sense of humor and so called out to her mother, disrupting the illusion. To the older woman it was almost as if Quinn appeared out of thin air. That is how they discovered exactly what sphere she should be focusing on: illusion.
From that day forward Quinn now had two things to practice to occupy her time, thus driving her even further into seclusion. It never seemed to bother her in the end. After graduation she moved immediately to college already well aware of what she would like to major in. The school was relatively close to home so she wasn't away from her family but she didn't visit them quite as often as she should have. Her life became her studies, all of them.
As the first year of college was nearly complete, Quinn was on her way back from a lecture. She just so happened to be carrying with her the wooden easel that she had lent out for the lecture. It just so happened that when she was jumped by a vampire that it was a young and inexperienced vampire. Luck was on her side the evening as she managed to use her Jeet Kun Do to defend herself long enough to get a leg of the easel through the heart of the vampire. So many things just happened in ways that benefitted her. It was a sign.
Her natural hatred for things unnatural, the skills that she possessed and the encounter with the vampire all seemed to come together in her mind. She resolved then that her goal in life would be to take on these creatures of evil, saving the lives of as many as she can. Certainly it is a lot to ask of a young woman currently in college, but she figured that her lack of stable friendships allowed her to make such a commitment. Wherever Quinn would go she made certain to carry silver and steaks. Her eyes were always on the lookout for any situations where she could help, and eventually she began patrolling at night to see what she could find.
This continued up until she graduated college. There was a choice as to what to do at this crossroad and Quinn decided to further her education. She decided to attend Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, California, due to their programs with Mythological Studies. It was a hard time with her parents as they insisted that she had to stay in the area. Finally they realized that she was going to do whatever it was that she was going to do and gave their blessing. The school wasn't Quinn's only reason for leaving. Once she arrived in California she legally changed her last name to reflect the family name that supposedly stood for good. She vowed to continue her quest of hunting down those evils that are plaguing society, all while getting her further education. She did just that.
As the years continued to pass and she neared graduation she was contacted by her family. They were curious as to where she would wind up once she had attained her PhD. Quinn had a few leads on jobs, one of which being a professor at SMU. It was then that her family, her coven, called upon her to act in their name. They asked that she make every attempt to get that job at SMU and look over two of her cousins who had moved into the area.
And so it came to be. Quinn is a recent graduate who has already made her way to Dallas. Technically her teaching job doesn't begin until the summer and fall months but she decided to move down as soon as she could to help keep an eye on her family. She still goes out at night to help keep the area safe, especially now that vampires have become public. Her goal is to make contact with her cousins without making it seem like she's here to spy on them. The area has been listed as hostile, after all, and she's out to make it safe for the few remaining members of the good coven.