Primal Marks

Your Mage may have an Avatar of the Primordial Essence, some totem or god of legend, or perhaps she's just gained some powerful spirit's patronage and it's set its mark on her. If the totem is an animal, she resembles what such an animal would look like in human form so strongly that people who don't even know her call her 'Bear' or 'Moose' or 'Raven.' If the Avatar is some well known god or hero, your character looks just like people would expect her to, including any particular deformities. Your Mage looks the part so much that anyone can guess her nature at a glance, and there is some danger in that, especially if your Avatar has a legendary enemy (as most do). Your character's totem or Avatar will also require her to protect its species or finish up its unfinished agenda. Your Mage might alternately be the descendant of some famous or infamous house: Pendragon, Murasaki, Bacon, Bathory, Borgia, or Le Vey. Besides the family name, you've also inherited the family 'look.' Students of history can easily picture you banishing the Devil and slaying dragons, or poisoning entire families and bathing in the blood of virgins- especially since they have the illustrations that might give them this idea. Alternately, your mage may just look the part of her profession too well. Perhaps she has the red hair and green eyes of an Irish witch, the pale eyes and dark skin of an Arabic sorcerer, the grown-together brows and elongated ring-fingers of a born shape-shifter, or the intense yellow, violet, or emerald green eyes of one of the fae. Students of ancient lore recognize these signs and your Mage may easily become the victim of witch-hunters. However, some witches, changelings, shape-shifters, and others may accord you more status in their societies if you 'look the part.'