EternalPhoenix

APPROVED (by phone)

Undine's not running, she's here to kick your ass. So, from under the water it's a Hydro Snare. https://orokos.com/roll/979684 Nat 20, believe it or not. So a hit. DC 25 Reflex to avoid.

With Rainshadow concealed, Undine slips under the water where she can activate her own Concealment. And attempt to use her Water Control to disburse the fog. Key word being attempt. https://orokos.com/roll/979609 Rolled a 3 for a total of 13. Not a difficult check for Rainshadow's power check to beat. You may roll for it or accept a Hero Point for it automatically working.

https://orokos.com/roll/979209 14 on Init. You're up first, Ari.

This won't have gone anywhere by June/July, fellas. I'm just saying.

Terrifica nodded, not that Rainshadow could see it. “You needn’t worry about a ‘robot virus’. The AI Exquisita is on defense against any intruders. Since you’re ready, I’m activating the helmet. Remember, while this may feel completely real, it isn’t. Any injuries may feel real, but they are not. So please remain as calm as you can. When you’re finished, say my name and I’ll disconnect. Good? Good. Diving in five…four…three…two…” For Rainshadow, it wasn’t so much as a fall as a sudden translocation. One moment, he’s reclining in a chair, the next he’s standing dockside in a city that did not resemble Freedom very much. It was Toronto, for the record. The water was Lake Ontario. And the angry looking woman standing on the water was his opponent for this exercise. Her open hostility and water gathering around her upraised arms made the point extra clear.

Terrifica uncrossed her legs and stood up. She gestured to two reclining chairs in the dining room. “Take whichever you like.” She herself took a computer chair by the main console. “Make yourself comfortable and put on the helmet. I will activate the system and monitor you from here.” She tapped a few buttons, warming things up. “Remember, your usual powers and skills will function as you both know and remember them to. You may do as you like without fear of damaging anything in here. The nerve impulse rerouting was perfected before I acquired the technology.”

Rainshadow time, in IC and OOC forms.

OOC for this. Hi, @Ari.

May 15, 2023. Freedom City. Hanover. Terrifi-Labs. Terrifi-Labs was the one bedroom apartment Terrifica had converted into her personal headquarters in Freedom City. She’d sent Rainshadow the address after her little advertisement caught his attention. So here they were. Sitting where, in any other apartment, would probably be the living room. Here it did double duty as the only public space. The actual dining room was full of electronics and technology. She slid a tablet across the table they were sitting at. Rainshadow, naturally, was seated on the opposite side of it. “Please confirm I have all of the details correct. Your scenario, opponent type, etcetera. You’re also confirming that you understand that this technology is, technically, in the experimental stages. My efforts may have reduced any risk to the miniscule, but it is still there.” She crossed her legs. “With that confirmed, we can go the next room and get started.”

A while back I did this semi ongoing thing called Room of Danger. People who were here at the time may remember it. They may not. Basically a shadowy group was kidnapping heroes and putting them into battle simulations, The Matrix style. The ending, whether the hero or heroes in question won or lost, was an annoyed Terrifica (my character) busting up the operation and freeing them. I figure she fully thwarted whatever scheme that was in the interim between then and now. Which brings me to the current thread idea. We have hero social media. I'm not looking the names up right now, but I know we have it. Thanks to RocketLord. I figure Terrifica's kept the tech and is advertising the use of it to any heroes that would like the virtual training. The set up is simply. We'll sort out the type of basic scenario you and/or your character wants to do. This can be done OOC, IC, or a mix of both. Afterwards, Terrifica will plug your character in and run it. I have a bazillion builds to throw at participants so it doesn't get boring. Speaking of, one other thing. What cuts my interest and participation in threads off at the knees is basically how slow waiting for OOC and then IC posts turn by turn in combat. So we're not doing that. Too slow, my brain loses interest and wanders off to do something else more consistently interesting, thread dies. We'll be doing the entire OOC of fights from beginning to end without making IC posts until it's finished. If this is a dealbreaker, I'm sorry about that. Really and truly. You may stop reading here and not participate. Final note. I'll be giving preference basically in inverse order of site seniority as I'm aware of it. Meaning the newer you are, the higher priority you are on the list. And also not running any more than two threads at a time. Don't want to get overwhelmed and shut down, leaving a bunch of threads to die. Fair warning. I'm still working on the Phoenixverse, running a game on another site, and playing in one there too. On top of having a full time job. I'm busy. So you know. You may have to come bug me on Discord or whatever. Believe me, my ADHD annoys me too. Edit: Forgot something, actually. Claremonters have the Wreck Room or whatever it's called. So no current Academy students for this, please.

Marisol Almeida Power Level: 9; Power Points Spent: 150/150 STR: +2 (14), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +2 (14), INT: +2 (14), WIS: +3 (16), CHA: +2 (14) Tough: +2/+7, Fort: +7, Ref: +10, Will: +10 Skills: Acrobatics 2 (+5), Bluff 8 (+10), Diplomacy 8 (+10), Gather Information 8 (+10), Intimidate 8 (+10), Knowledge (arcane Lore) 3 (+5/+10), Knowledge (history) 3 (+5/+10), Knowledge (streetwise) 8 (+10), Knowledge (theology & philosophy) 3 (+5/+10), Language 1 (+1), Notice 12 (+15), Sense Motive 7 (+10), Stealth 7 (+10), Survival 2 (+5/+10) Feats: Attack Focus (ranged) 4, Defensive Roll, Dodge Focus 3, Evasion, Improved Aim, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Precise Shot, Second Chance 3 (Toughness saves vs. Bludgeoning, Piercing, & Slashing), Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: Metahuman Enhancements (Container, Passive 4) Metahuman Recovery (Regeneration (recovery bonus 5 (+5 to recover), recovery rate (disabled) 1 (recover 1 / 5 hours), recovery rate (injured) 1 (recover 1 / 20 mins), recovery rate (staggered) 1 (recover 1 / 20 mins)) Metahuman Resilience (Protection 4) (+4 Toughness, Feats: Second Chance 3 (Toughness saves vs. Bludgeoning, Piercing, & Slashing)) Metahuman Senses (Super-Senses 5) (acute: Normal Olfactory, extended: Normal Auditory 1 (-1 per 100 ft), extended (type): Visual 1 (-1 per 100 ft), low-light vision) Spirit Rifle (Device 6) (Easy to lose, Restricted use (Approved By Eileen Sanderson)) Eileen Sanderson's Knowledge (Enhanced Trait 5) (Traits: Knowledge (arcane Lore) +5 (+10), Knowledge (history) +5 (+10), Knowledge (theology & philosophy) +5 (+10), Survival +5 (+10)) Eileen Sanderson's Spirit (Features 1) Spirit Rifle Shot (Linked) The Actual Bullet (Blast 6) (Linked; DC 21) The Spiritual Charge (Drain 6) (Linked; drains: single trait - toughness, DC 16; Affects Objects, Range (ranged); Limited (to targets with Magic or Hellfire/Demonic/Infernal powers)) Attack Bonus: +8 (Ranged: +12, Melee: +8, Grapple: +10) Attacks: The Actual Bullet (Blast 6), +12 (DC 21), The Spiritual Charge (Drain 6), +12 (DC Fort/Staged 16), Unarmed Attack, +8 (DC 17) Defense: +10 (Flat-footed: +4), Knockback: -3 Initiative: +7 Languages: English Native, Spanish Totals: Abilities 28 + Skills 20 (80 ranks) + Feats 14 + Powers 39 + Combat 30 + Saves 19 + Drawbacks 0 = 150 Age (as of Jan 2019): 30 Height: 5’ 10” Weight: 135 lbs Ethnicity: Mexican-American Hair: Brown Eyes: Brown Theme Songs: [url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrkULUHzPO4]Sink or Swim, by Zach B & exst. featuring McGwire[/url] (Eileen Sanderson) & [url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzHOBVUeLHM]Heart of Stone, by Divide Music[/url] (Marisol Almeida) Background: Eileen Sanderson was the weakest of the original Seven Soldiers. She was just a woman with a rifle, trying to protect her sons. Next to genius inventors, teleporting immortals, powerful wizards, master swordsmen, and whatever the hell Vanessa Fordham was, who was she? No hero, certainly. Only a widow doing her best. All seven survived that incident, in the dying days of the West. Those days, over a hundred years ago now, might as well have been another world. The average modern US citizen has no idea what it was like as the frontier became, well, just another part of the country. Every inch was paid for in blood, sweat, and tears. Eileen was tough as nails. She had to be. The Wild West wasn’t all cattle rustlers, bandits, and outlaws. Things dark and terrible stalked the desert nights. It’s an old story, one that has played out many times throughout history. Though this was more or less the most recent time it played out. Invaders kill and displace natives. Invaders disbelieve in natives’ silly superstitions. Invaders get a brutal education in how very little of said superstitions were silly at all, proceed to learn little from it. From the Persians to Alexander to the Romans to the Mongols to Europeans colonizers to Americans settling the West, the story has always been the same. We are the righteous ones, who this land now belongs. Anyone who disagrees can become a fresh corpse. And, as always, the common people who settle these new lands are the ones who pay for it. Long after the armies pass by and the dust settles, monsters unbound by knowledge of what they are and how to defeat them come out to play. There were reasons the lights were put out at night in solitary farmhouses that had nothing to do with bandits and robbers. Eileen raised her two boys, set them up well in the world, and more or less promptly died of exhaustion. Though barely making out of childhood after bouts with diphtheria and measles along with adult bouts with influenza and typhoid did not help. Neither did subsidence farming for three alone until the boys were old enough to take the burden off of her. The problem with dying quite young like that is that she had some unfinished business. She still wanted to look after her sons. So she kind of…haunted them instead of moving on to the afterlife. In fact, she didn’t initially know she was even dead. But you know…her boys married well. They were doing fine without her. So she was at loose ends. Most ghosts would simply move on, goal achieved. But Eileen was, as ever, made of more stubborn stuff. While she’d never been properly a hero (too much to do on the farm and her boys to think of), well…the things stopping her no longer were, now were they? It wasn’t too hard to both possess and empower her old rifle. Nor was it too hard to lure someone both appropriate and worthy to it. And she was off to the races. A weapon for mothers to protect children against the darkness. There have been many wielders. The nature of hunting monsters and how mothers (at least the kind she chooses) means that casualties are inevitable. Marisol Almeida is just the latest. There will always be others. There will always been children in need of protecting, and there will always been mothers willing to protect them. Marisol Almeida was happy, once. This was not always so. An only child and a orphan who was never adopted, she simply aged out of the system in Arizona. From birth to age 18, she never had a permanent home and afterwards had to make her own. It’s an old story, one supposes. A young woman, desperate to be wanted by someone. Anyone. Of course she got used, impregnated, and abandoned. But then Mateo was born. He was the center of her world. Someone who loved and accepted her unconditionally. Someone who not just wanted her, but needed her. It was, perhaps, not the healthiest approach to young motherhood. She did, however, resist growing obsessive and overprotective. Mateo would have a better life than she was given. She, who had known love’s absence, would make sure her son never did. It would be the two of them versus the world. But fate is sometimes most cruel. This, too, is an old story. Weapons, normally, are not good or evil. They are inanimate objects. No more and no less. Even divine artifacts and enchanted weapons are not normally so. With that said, such weapons can be made. It is a chancy thing to do, taking something used to cause injury, pain, and death and giving it something resembling a mind. But of course, infernal cultists have never cared about danger. Otherwise they would have found a safer lifestyle. The vast majority of these infernal weapons are melee weapons, as they were made before the advent of firearms. The Jealous Piercer, however, is not one of them. The story goes that a powerful demon of envy is sealed inside of it. Anyone who picks touches it has their mind influenced by the demon. They feel such powerful envy and/or jealousy that few can resist pulling the trigger of the Spencer repeating rifle and firing freshly created Hellfire rounds to get what they want. Or, as in the case of Andrea Gilbert, what she wanted to take away. Andrea was incapable of having children of her own, and the Jealous Piercer found her. She killed five children in three states over a week (firing from her car before speeding away) before The Shining Guardian took her down outside an elementary school in Colorado Springs. One of the five was Mateo Almeida, who was simply playing in the street with some friends outside of the apartment he shared with his mother (who was inside preparing lunch). He was eight years old. Parents should not have to bury their children. The grief and pain and rage Marisol experienced are beyond both description and imagining. And it had no place to go. The Jealous Piercer was locked up where it could do no more harm. Andrea Gilbert was in maximum security prison. Over and over, her mind replayed the scene. Her hands full of bread and lunchmeat as bullets tore through her beloved Mateo. Her son’s blood soaking into her pants and shirt. The confused expression on his face as he died. This is the state she was in when she was lured to where the Winchester ’73 possessed by Eileen Sanderson lay dropped by its last dying wielder. A new partnership was forged. There would be no more Mateos. There would be no more Andreas. Never again. No more infernal weapons. No more demons. No more vampires. No more monsters. No. More. And that is all Marisol Almeida is. Wherever the supernatural menaces children, she’ll be there to shoot it until it dies or she does. She knows she’s being used by Eileen. She knows this life will kill her. She simply doesn’t care. Years have gone by. She’s worked with Christine Gale, Shandra Hawkins, Robin McKinnon, and Estrid Silubra in the past. She likely will again. They keep getting brought together. She still doesn’t care. There is only one thing that matters to her. Preventing others from feeling the pain she feels. End of story. Powers & Tactics: Marisol is a metahuman with one special device. Her metahuman powers are relatively minor as most of them are. She heals faster from serious injuries than most, but that faster is relative. She’ll probably be able to recover from injuries that require at least a week of hospitalization in a day or two without the hospital. Minor injuries basically take the usual amount of time to heal. Inflicting those injuries, however, is more difficult. She’s noticeably more resilient than unpowered humans, as if she’s wearing the equivalent of heavy body armor. It’s more protective against most physical damage. Unarmed strikes, claws, swords, arrows, knives, and similar. And her senses are better than baseline humans. She can both see and hear ten times further, doesn’t need as much light to see, and has a more sensitive nose. Her special device is the Winchester Model 1873 rifle possessed by the spirit of Eileen Sanderson. A spirit rifle, if you will. It is the Carbine version, to be specific. Ammunition is not a problem, as Eileen generates it with her spiritual power. This accounts for the increased power compared to the historical weapon. It also accounts for the dramatically increased effectiveness on targets with magical or demonic/infernal/hellfire powers. On such targets, it is no mere gunshot. It functions more like a bullet based disintegration ray, tearing such targets apart at the molecular level. The rifle’s owner also gets the benefits of Eileen’s knowledge and counsel. Bits of knowledge about magic, history, theology, and wilderness survival. Her counsel is of more…dubious…benefit, but at least it’s someone to talk to out on the road. Obviously, only those Eileen permits can use the rifle. For everyone else it’s a glorified paperweight. Tactically, Marisol is a riflewoman. She doesn’t normally use lethal damage on those that The Spiritual Charge doesn’t affect. If it does, however, she’s killing them. Destroying them. Whatever. End of story. She’s not much for Feinting or Demoralizing. She has some skill in doing so, but it’s just not her thing. She uses Stealth where she can, plus Improved Aim and Power Attack. She can detect foes with her Metahuman Senses from further away than most foes would expect a human to be able to. Otherwise there isn’t much to say. There is technically a power stunt available off of Spirit Rifle Shot that would Summon Eileen out of the Spirit Rifle, but Marisol has no idea it exists, let alone that she can do it. Doing so would render her unconscious anyway, so there’s really no point. Personality: Eileen Sanderson is more than a little obsessed. Call it unfinished business. She died right when she completed what at point had been her life’s mission for virtually two decades. She did not get the opportunity to grow past her “protective mother” mode. It is a testament to her strength that she didn’t turn into a bitter poltergeist haunting her children when it turned out they really didn’t need her anymore. Want, yes of course. They grieved her and missed her all the days of their lives. But the vital need was gone. Unfortunately, instead of moving on, she’s stayed on Earth. Ghosts who stay on Earth tend to slowly go mad. Eileen’s lasted a lot longer than most, but she is gradually slipping. Her sons wouldn’t recognize her if they were still alive. Her personality has hollowed out. The farmer is gone. The good neighbor is gone. The seamstress is gone. Even the bit of her that may, in another lifetime, have made her a hero is gone. All that is left is the mother who will fight as hard as she needs to in order to protect her children. And she’s even lost track of which children were hers to begin with. So, might as well protect them all and let God sort ‘em out. So to speak. Telling the truth? She was always kind of a bitch. The type to leave bridges burned and earth scorched in her wake. Anything for her boys. Marisol Almeida…broken is the wrong word. That’s kind of the trouble, actually. She didn’t break. The worst possible thing happened, and she didn’t break. Agony beyond description and imagination, but she didn’t break. So what does one do with all that pain? Where do they put it? Most people, one imagines, would get a therapist or a friend. Talk things out. Slowly move on with their life. Or at least try to do so. Marisol holds her pain tightly to her. She wears it like armor. So that no one else will have to feel this pain. Not as long as she can prevent it. Never again. Not on her watch. No. As one can imagine, that hasn’t left a lot of room for a well rounded person. Her heart basically turned to stone on that day. And spending her whole life basically unwanted, well. If the world doesn’t want her, than she doesn’t want it either. Children, however, get to see the loving mother who misses her son terribly. Anyone who watches her during such interactions can see how very lost she is. Because lost is the right word. Unmoored and untethered, with only an obsession with protecting children to motivate her to do anything at all.

Zhang Wei Power Level: 9; Power Points Spent: 165/165 STR: +3 (16), DEX: +5 (20), CON: +3 (16), INT: +2 (14), WIS: +3 (16), CHA: +2 (14) Tough: +3/+6, Fort: +8, Ref: +12, Will: +10 Skills: Acrobatics 10 (+15), Bluff 8 (+10), Diplomacy 8 (+10), Gather Information 8 (+10), Intimidate 8 (+10), Knowledge (arcane Lore) 3 (+5), Knowledge (tactics) 13 (+15), Knowledge (theology & philosophy) 3 (+5), Language 1 (+1), Notice 12 (+15), Sense Motive 12 (+15), Stealth 10 (+15) Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, Attack Focus (melee) 4, Challenge - Improved Acrobatic Bluff, Challenge - Improved Demoralize, Defensive Attack, Dodge Focus 5, Improved Critical 2 (Fast Slash (Strike 3)), Improved Critical 2 (Heavy Slash (Strike 3)), Improved Critical 2 (Mental Break (Strike 3)), Improved Initiative, Improved Trick, Master Plan, Master Plan 2 (tactics), Move-by Action, Power Attack, Set-Up, Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Notice, Sense Motive, Stealth), Takedown Attack 2, Teamwork 3, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: Chi Channeling Sword (Device 4) (Easy to lose, Only you can use) Swordsmanship Techniques (Array 6) (default power: strike) Armor Break (Drain 6) (Array; drains: single trait - toughness, DC 16; Affects Objects) Chi Healing (Healing 6) (Array; Action (standard); Personal) Chi Shockwave (Strike 3) (Array; DC 21; Burst Area (30-150 ft. radius - General) [3 extra ranks]; Mighty, Progression, Increase Area 2 (area x5)) Energy Slash (Blast 3) (Array; DC 21; Accurate 2 (+4), Mighty 3 (+3 to damage), Precise) Fast Slash (Strike 3) (Default; DC 21, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Fast Slash (Strike 3)); Autofire (interval 2, max +5) [3 extra ranks]; Mighty) Heavy Slash (Strike 3) (Array; DC 21, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Heavy Slash (Strike 3)); Penetrating [3 extra ranks]; Mighty) Magic Break (Nullify 6) (Array; counters: all powers of (type) - magic, DC 16; Effortless; Range (touch)) Mental Break (Strike 3) (Array; DC 21, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Mental Break (Strike 3)); Alternate Save (Will) [3 extra ranks]; Mighty) Speed Break (Paralyze 6) (Array; DC 16) Wuxia Swordmanship Training (Container, Passive 3) Fast Running (Speed 2) (Speed: 25 mph, 220 ft./rnd) High Vaulting (Leaping 2) (Jumping distance: x5) Quickened (Quickness 2) (Perform routine tasks at 5x speed) Toughened (Protection 3) (+3 Toughness) Wuxia Movement (Super-Movement 3) (slow fall, trackless, water walking) Attack Bonus: +8 (Ranged: +8, Melee: +12, Grapple: +15) Attacks: Armor Break (Drain 6), +12 (DC Fort/Staged 16), Chi Shockwave (Strike 3) (DC 21), Energy Slash (Blast 3), +12 (DC 21), Fast Slash (Strike 3), +12 (DC 21), Heavy Slash (Strike 3), +12 (DC 21), Magic Break (Nullify 6), +12 (DC Will 16), Mental Break (Strike 3), +12 (DC Will 21), Speed Break (Paralyze 6), +12 (DC Staged/Will 16), Unarmed Attack, +12 (DC 18) Defense: +12 (Flat-footed: +4), Knockback: -3 Initiative: +9 Languages: English, Mandarin Native Totals: Abilities 36 + Skills 24 (96 ranks) + Feats 27 + Powers 29 + Combat 30 + Saves 19 + Drawbacks 0 = 165 ****************************************************************************************** Wu Yuying Power Level: 9; Power Points Spent: 165/165 STR: +2 (14), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +3 (16), INT: +3 (16), WIS: +5 (20), CHA: +3 (16) Tough: +8, Fort: +7, Ref: +10, Will: +10 Skills: Acrobatics 7 (+10), Bluff 12 (+15), Craft (chemical) 2 (+5), Knowledge (arcane Lore) 12 (+15), Knowledge (life sciences) 2 (+5), Knowledge (theology & philosophy) 12 (+15), Language 1 (+1), Medicine 5 (+10), Notice 5 (+10), Sense Motive 5 (+10) Feats: Accurate Attack, Artificer, Attack Focus (melee) 2, Attack Specialization 2 (Staff Strike (Strike 2)), Challenge - Improved Feint, Defensive Attack, Dodge Focus 5, Improved Critical (Staff Strike (Strike 2)), Power Attack, Ritualist, Second Chance (Toughness saves vs. Magic), Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, KN (arcane lore), Notice, Sense Motive), Takedown Attack, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: Alchemical Resilience (Protection 5) (+5 Toughness, Feats: Second Chance (Toughness saves vs. Magic)) Taoist Wizard Staff (Device 1) (Easy to lose, Only you can use) Staff Strike (Strike 2) (bludgeoning, DC 19, Feats: Improved Critical (Staff Strike (Strike 2)); Extended Reach (5 ft.), Mighty) Taoist Wizardry (Array 15) (default power: blast) Blessings of the East Wind (Container, Active 6) Blessing of Airy Step (Super-Movement 3) (slow fall, trackless, water walking; Affects Others, Burst Area (15 ft. radius - General)) Blessing of Carrying Gust (Leaping 3) (Jumping distance: x10; Affects Others, Burst Area (15 ft. radius - General)) Blessing of Wind Speed (Speed 3) (Speed: 50 mph, 440 ft./rnd; Affects Others, Burst Area (15 ft. radius - General)) Brutish Flamedance (Blast 6) (Array; fire, DC 21; Autofire (interval 2, max +5); Accurate 2 (+4)) Celestial Stasis (Paralyze 10) (Array; time, DC 20; Alternate Save (Reflex), Range (ranged)) Devouring Shadows (Linked) Devouring Shadows Damage (Blast 6) (Linked; darkness, DC 21) Devouring Shadows Silence (Stun 6) (Linked; darkness, DC 16; Range (ranged)) Flames of Fudo (Blast 10) (Default; fire, DC 25; Shapeable Area (10 cubes of 125 cu. ft. (5x5x5) - Targeted)) Grave's Embrace (Linked) Grave's Embrace Damage (Strike 6) (Linked; earth, DC 21; Burst Area (30 ft. radius - General)) Grave's Embrace Paralyze (Paralyze 6) (Linked; earth, DC 16; Burst Area (30 ft. radius - General)) Luminous Moonlight Mirage (Illusion 9) (Array; affects: 1 type + visual - visual & auditory, DC 19; Progression, Area 3 (50 ft. radius)) Pharmacopeia (Healing 6) (Array; magic, DC 16; Action (standard), Range (ranged); Persistent, Regrowth) Purification of Heaven (Nullify 9) (Array; light, counters: all powers of (type) - demonic/hellfire/infernal, DC 19; Burst Area (45-450 ft. radius - General), Selective Attack; Range (touch); Progression, Increase Area 3 (area x10)) River Serpent's Fury (Blast 9) (Array; water, DC 24; Line Area (5x225 ft. line - General)) Roar Of The Thunder Dragon (Blast 9) (Array; electricity, DC 24; Cylinder Area (45 ft. radius + height - General)) Attack Bonus: +8 (Ranged: +8, Melee: +10, Grapple: +12) Attacks: Brutish Flamedance (Blast 6), +12 (DC 21), Celestial Stasis (Paralyze 10), +8 (DC Ref/Staged 20), Devouring Shadows Damage (Blast 6), +8 (DC 21), Devouring Shadows Silence (Stun 6), +8 (DC Fort/Staged 16), Flames of Fudo (Blast 10), +8 (DC 25), Grave's Embrace Damage (Strike 6) (DC 21), Grave's Embrace Paralyze (Paralyze 6) (DC Staged/Will 16), Purification of Heaven (Nullify 9) (DC Will 19), River Serpent's Fury (Blast 9) (DC 24), Roar Of The Thunder Dragon (Blast 9) (DC 24), Staff Strike (Strike 2), +14 (DC 19), Unarmed Attack, +10 (DC 17) Defense: +10 (Flat-footed: +3), Knockback: -4 Initiative: +3 Languages: English, Mandarin Native Totals: Abilities 38 + Skills 16 (63 ranks) + Feats 18 + Powers 51 + Combat 26 + Saves 16 + Drawbacks 0 = 165 Age (Zhang Wei ,as of Jan 2019): 500 (chronological), Deceased in 1595 at 76, mid 20s (appearance) Age (Wu Yuying, as of Jan 2019): 488 (chronological), Deceased in 1636 at 105, mid 20s (appearance) Height: 5’ 10” (Zhang Wei), 5’ 3” (Wu Yuying) Weight: 170 lbs (Zhang Wei), 115 lbs (Wu Yuying) Ethnicity: Han Chinese Hair: Black Eyes: Dark Brown Theme Song: [url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyuUcTewmBI]Xian, by Antti Martikainen[/url] Backgrounds: Zhang Wei was born in 1519 as the third son of an army officer. Wu Yuying was born 12 years later, in 1531. Her lineage could be traced if one tried to minor, forgotten branches of both the Tang (on her father’s side) and Song (on her mother’s) dynasties. When both came to be trained at Xiyue Temple, Rudy Evander was already living there. They did not meet. The unofficial protector of Shaanxi Province, a being kept secret by the monks from both the previous Yuan and current Ming dynasties, wasn’t exactly introduced to everyone. It was a hell of an era. Alchemy. Chi. Magic. Martial Arts. The age of what is now called Wuxia after the media genre that dramatizes it. It was, in fact, the century when that age’s decline began. The Ming had had matchlocks since at least 1548, and had been gradually using them more often. If mainly against wokou pirates. And they bought flintlocks (or at least the schematics for them) in 1635 as they were fighting their own extinction. And as is well known, soldiers and warriors can be trained to be dangerously lethal far easier with firearms than with alchemy, chi, magic, or martial arts. Firearms entering China signaled the beginning of the end of the Wuxia Age, which had endured in one form or another (fading here and there during war convulsed times) since the age of myth. The final blow came at the hands of Mao Zedong and now Communist China. That, however, can be discussed another time. For now, know that the Wuxia Age was alive and well in 1546 when a series of incidents brought together Shaanxi’s protector, a wandering swordsman, and a young wizard together as a nigh unstoppable team. Zhang Wei had actually been born and raised near Beijing, but in adulthood (after a term of military service) wandered away to seek his own fortune. This was, after all, an age where a skilled and honorable warrior could easily pick up a few nights room and board dealing with local bandits or monsters menacing a town. If there was a wealthy or aristocratic resident, they could even be paid. Zhang Wei was both skilled and honorable, and grew more skilled with practice. He trained with a few different masters, but never quite found a place to stay as he desired. He was considering moving on from Xiyue, as the teachers there had nothing left for him at this time. He liked the priests fine and there was a lovely young woman just about to exit typical marriageable age in a nearby village. But he was still restless, and if not for that series of incidents would have departed within the month. It was those incidents in which he became firm and then best friends with Rudy Evander and young Wu Yuying. This persuaded him to remain and settle down. He had children and grandchildren while protecting Shaanxi as Rudy had done (Rudy’s injury in 1556 preventing any continuation there). He ran a dojo where he passed down what he had learned to younger men and women. But alas, no man lives forever. His strength ran out in 1595, and a genuine Norse Valkyrie came to collect him. He did not, however, go directly to Valhalla or Sessrúmnir in Folkvangr. He asked to be able to watch over Rudy, who had become increasingly withdrawn as the years had gone on. And he asked for Wu Yuying to be chosen as well, so they could watch over him together. The valkyrie, Estrid Silubra, agreed, and a bargain was struck. Wu Yuying was a native of the area around Xiyue. She was born in what is now Weinan, to be precise. Daughter of aristocrats who were trying very hard to stay out of national politics. Or even local ones, for that matter. The end of a Chinese dynasty was never pretty, and the few who escaped such grisly fates tended to live very quiet lives afterward and keep a long familial memory. Try very hard to remain unexceptional and stay out of things. Yuying, for good or ill, was born too exceptional to hide it. It is said that the spirits themselves were her first magical tutors, and that’s not far wrong. Occasionally, mana in certain areas can be said to have a primitive will of its own. It can allow itself to be touched and shaped into magic by those that normally could never do this without proper training. This is never anything major, moderate, or even minor. If you, Dear Reader, have ever met a child who seemed exceptionally gifted, lucky, blessed, or a combination thereof, they may well be one of these. Or perhaps not. The 21st century is a very different place than the 16th. At any rate, her abilities were identified when she was still a child and she was sent to Xiyue Temple for training. In those days both magic and religion were taught there. She absorbed it like she was born specifically to do so, but not it was literally so. Believe me, they checked. Thoroughly and repeatedly. She was accorded a full Taoist wizard at age 15, which was virtually unprecedented, with the virtually deleted when her gender was taken into consideration. But before anyone could get too excited about that, those series of incidents kicked off. This is where she formally met both Rudy Evander and Zhang Wei, and they became the best of friends. A child finished with her lessons gets into places, so she’d seem them both before. They were a heroic trio. The protectors of Shaanxi. They were not alone, of course. Wandering warriors, wizards, and other combat ready types were always passing through in that era. It was only a decade, but it was a good decade. The incident under Shaanxi in 1556, in which Rudy’s arm and weapon were broken, has been written about in his entry. While pulling Rudy out of there with Wei, Yuying realized she’d loved him for years. Her magic could not fix his arm because he was not a human being. At all. Which was a bit of a shock. The trio had become a duo. Yuying married Rudy, and through her magic and alchemy, they had children. Fertile children at that. Wei and Yuying still had many other adventures. It is, however, the same old story. One generation grows old and passes their skills and knowledge to the next, and eventually retires from the battlefield entirely. So it was with Yuying. She mourned the passing of Wei in 1595 as much as Rudy did. She had just over 4 decades after that, long enough to see the Ming dynasty begin to totter and fall in the way that all the dynasties before had. Long enough to feel the world changing outside of Shaanxi Province. Long enough to know that as Ming was falling, so too was the Wuxia Age she was born into beginning to falter. She outlived all of her children, and as China grew more unstable, most of her grandchildren. But there was little an old woman could do about such matters. She put her trust in the next generations, as it was all that could be done. With her hand in Rudy’s remaining hand, she breathed her last in 1636. She promptly met both a Norse Valkyrie and, for the first time in 41 years, Zhang Wei. Estrid and Wei explained the situation, and Yuying agreed that Rudy needed watching over. The two Chinese heroes were taken to Folkvangr, where in its great hall Sessrúmnir they watched over their old friend for centuries uninterrupted. For 374 years they watched with great concern as their old friend became more and more isolated, to the point of forgetting how to speak. And then, Estrid was reactivated. They went with her back to Earth (Midgard, as she said) as her einherjar. She did return to Folkvangr periodically, at which time they resumed their vigil until she departed once again. This continued for 7 years, until a return to Folkvangr showed that Rudy had disappeared from Xiyue Temple while they were gone. The past 3 years have been spent searching for him, when Estrid could spare the time from her own work. As einherjar (and nothing more than spirits at that), Wei and Yuying can do nothing without her aid. They are, of course, more than happy to aid her in her work. Their relations with Christine Gale, Shandra Hawkins, Robin McKinnon, and Marisol Almeida are good. But it’s not important to them in the same way as finding Rudy is. They are dead. They lived long lives and died content except for him. They will find him someday. What they’ll do then is unclear, as einherjar aren’t permitted to meet with those who knew them in life. But they’re definitely going to find him. Powers & Tactics: Zhang Wei and Wu Yuying are einherjar. This makes them the spirits of deceased humans that are stored within a Norse Valkyrie’s divine essence, unable to do anything without assistance. Fortunately, as einherjar their valkyrie (Estrid) can materialize them through divine power, functionally restoring them to life as long as she is conscious and capable of action. They’re more or less at the peak of their abilities in life, and can use whatever powers they had. Zhang Wei is a Wuxia Era swordsman. Very few of these (or any Wuxia Era physical combatants) were simply guys who were good at swords. Most had an arsenal of special techniques that channeled Chi through their weapon (or bare limbs) for a dazzling variety of special effects. Wei was no exception. Mundane swordsmen can’t shatter armor, heal themselves, project a slash of energy while slashing, negate magic, slash minds, or even paralyze with one strike. He is the only one who can use his sword at all, because it’s been manifested by divine power for his use only and is not a real object. This is not all. Wei’s mastery of his Chi permits him to run fast, jump high, be quicker, and resist more damage than others. Further more, he is impossible to visually track, can catch himself when falling if there’s something to grab hold of, and can walk on water. Wu Yuying is a Taoist wizard. Taoist Magic is very, very different than the pseudo-Hermeticism (and its various ‘mancies) much more common today, especially in the West. It’s not learned from books. The absolute basics can be learned from a master, but moving further? The techniques are deeply personal, earned through spiritual trials and greater understanding of one’s self and the Dao. These trials don’t have failure states aside from the mage somehow managing to kill themselves during them. Different completion methods grant different spells, and thus no two Taoist wizards are ever quite alike, and said spells are often radically different from what other traditions produce. Yuying is no exception to this. Brutish Flamedance is her literally dancing while firing off flaming bolts. Blessings of the East Wind makes her and everyone within 15 feet of her able to run much faster, jump much higher, become impossible to visually track, catch themselves when falling if there’s something to grab hold of, and walk on water. Celestial Stasis can freeze targets in time. Devouring Shadows is like a momentary crack in the world, where hungry darkness attempts to rip the life out of someone in a fast most painful. Flames of Fudo is momentarily channeling the power of a god to cause fire to rain from the sky, burning a group of enemies to ash and cinder. Grave’s Embrace is when the Earth itself attempt to eat all targets in an area. Luminous Moonlight Mirage creates convincing visual and sonic illusions out of moonbeams. Yes, even at high noon. Pharmacopeia is actually using her knowledge of Taoist alchemy to spontaneously manifest healing balms on an ally’s injuries. Purification of Heaven uses light to negate demonic/infernal/Hellfire based powers. River Serpent’s Fury and Roar Of The Thunder Dragon are yet more damage but in differently shaped areas. The former is water and the latter is lightning. Her knowledge of Taoist alchemy has been further leveraged to significantly increase her resilience, especially to magic. And like all Taoist wizards, she carries a fancy quarterstaff to whack people with. Like Wei’s sword, it is manifested by divine power and is not a real object. Thus she is the only one who can use it. Tactically, both Wei and Yuying have a lot of tools at their disposal. Primarily Wei is a melee fighter and Yuying remains at range. They can, however, switch things up as both have abilities in the other’s primary area. Add to this that they’re supporting Estrid (a more or less pure damage user) and the shape of things comes into focus. The valkyrie is more accurate than both of them, hits harder than Wei, and can (through Power Attack) hit harder than most of Yuying’s spells. Therefore, they tend to focus on weaker enemies such as mooks and minions. For mightier ones they’ll either exploit weaknesses (like most Bricks having piss poor Reflex saves) or use appropriate support powers (like Luminous Moonlight Mirage). Wei has Improved Acrobatic Bluff to help him hit, Improved Demoralize for use on mooks, and Improved Trick to pull on over on his foes. Yuying has Improved Feint to help her hit. Both have Defensive Attack to protect themselves, and Power Attack to do more damage. Yuying, however, also has Accurate Attack for extra precise attacking. Wei has Set Up and Teamwork 3, establishing himself as an excellent team player. He also has Takedown Attack 2 to mow through minions and mooks. Yuying only has the first rank of Takedown Attack, but she can still go wild her staff as needed. The most important things to note, however, are Wei’s Master Plan 2 and Yuying’s Artificer and Ritualist. With a few minutes to plan, Wei can grant himself and his allies a +3 on attack and skill checks for 3 rounds, followed by a +2 and +1 for one round each. Yuyuing’s Artificier is actually Taoist alchemy. It isn’t any less versatile than regular Artificing, it’s just magic chemistry instead of building items. Her Ritualist, however…well, let’s just say Taoist ritual magic has done some wild stuff over the years. Like opening a portal to Tian, the Chinese divine heavens, to let a god temporarily pop down to Earth and kick literal and/or metaphorical ass. Because there’s gods of fighting and of bureaucracy up there, you know. Neither of them power stunts. Ever. Personalities: Wei & Yuying, as followers of Taoism, have much in common. A deep well of compassion. Taking all things in moderation. High levels of humility. One of the primary precepts of Taoism is more or less “going with the flow”, so to speak. There is a natural way of things, and it is better to follow this way than oppose it. With that said, they are very much like modern Western heroes in many respects. They weren’t really the proactive type (see “going with the flow”), and their methodology could vary widely according to what was needed. But when called on, they have always brought the thunder. Sometimes literally, in Yuying’s case. However, the root of this is far different that of modern Western heroes. Such heroes are, by definition, not “going with the flow”. For whatever reason, they have decided that is no longer acceptable and thus fight against what appears to be the natural way of things. And, as Taoism says ought to happen, they pay for it. Sometimes dearly. Wei & Yuying place their will and trust in the Dao, which (very briefly) kind of everything. Living in harmony with it and thus not suffering tragedies and terrible fates is the goal here. This does not, however, mean heroism is out of the question. The Dao is more complex and complicated than any one human could ever fully comprehend. For Wei & Yuying, at least, following it has always meant being true to who they are. And who they are heroes. Those who stand between the ones who struggle against the Dao for their own benefit and those such struggles would harm. Their talents, aptitudes, preferences, and inclinations exist for most likely a multitude of reasons, some of which they will never understand and others they will never know. So, when the people they have become can be of use and benefit to others, there is no reason why they should fight against such a thing. Indeed, they should welcome all such opportunities. With that said, they were still different people. Zhang Wei was a man of courage and honor. A serious, stoic warrior contrasted with the warm yet smartmouthed friend. It is said that bravery is acting without feeling fear, while courage is acting while one is afraid. In this respect, there have been few warriors more courageous than Zhang Wei. He was neither unstoppable nor invincible. He opposed some of the most dangerous threats of the 16th century with nothing more than his sword and the fruit of his training. He was only a man. He could and did get hurt. On occasion, he even lost things no spell could give back to him. And yet he at no point permitted it to crush his spirit. He was always the first into the fray. His honor was such that he does not ever genuinely argue with anyone and quickly resolves disagreements. He is frugal in all of his dealings, and diligent in fulfilling his responsibilities and duties to his superiors, friends, and family. It should be noted that as an ally and friend he does not hesitate to speak the truth. He may do it kindly, and with empathy and compassion where needed. Or perhaps, as is more common, he will do it with a joke or teasing comment. Wu Yuying, on the other hand, is a woman of boundless love, deep faith, and endless hope. Love for friends and family like anyone else, certainly, but there’s more to it than that. She possesses a deep and abiding love for all living things. She repays cruelty with kindness and counters anger with serenity. This does not mean she is unwilling to fight, and it certainly does not mean she is soft towards those who commit to being wicked. Loving also means being willing to dispense correction when it is needed. Her faith isn’t purely a religious matter. Yes, she believes in the Dao and following it, but she also believes hard in people. The natural way of human existence is helping each other. Only a fool would not see this. And fools can easily be educated as to their mistake. Those who willfully go against the Dao are another matter. Moreover, even since her first heroic days back when she was fifteen years old, she has held more than enough hope inside her for all of Shaanxi Province. She will always extend an open hand to make a friend first, and strike only as much as necessary to defend herself and others. Regardless of how far one have traveled down a wicked and selfish path, she firmly believes that there is always a way back. No matter how desperate a situation or how futile any action she might take may seem to be, she will never give up.

Estrid Silubra of Asgard Power Level: 11; Power Points Spent: 300/300 STR: +5 (20), DEX: +5 (20), CON: +5 (20), INT: +2 (14), WIS: +5 (20), CHA: +5 (20) Tough: +5/+8, Fort: +11, Ref: +14, Will: +11 Skills: Acrobatics 5 (+10), Craft (artistic) 8 (+10), Diplomacy 5 (+10), Intimidate 15 (+20), Knowledge (arcane Lore) 8 (+10), Knowledge (current events) 8 (+10), Knowledge (history) 8 (+10), Knowledge (tactics) 8 (+10), Knowledge (theology & philosophy) 8 (+10), Language 4 (+4), Notice 10 (+15), Search 3 (+5), Sense Motive 10 (+15) Feats: All-Out Attack, Artificer, Attack Focus (melee) 2, Attack Specialization (Valkyrie's Bow (Blast 3)), Challenge - Improved Demoralize, Challenge - Improved Startle, Defensive Attack, Dodge Focus, Improved Aim, Improved Critical 2 (Valkyrie's Bow (Blast 3)), Improved Critical 2 (Valkyrie's Sword (Strike 3)), Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Precise Shot, Quick Draw, Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Intimidate, Notice, Sense Motive), Startle, Takedown Attack 2, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: Divine Blessings of the Valkyrie (Container, Passive 9) Art Thou Worthy? (Super-Senses 4) (postcognition; Limited (Only targets detectable by Near Death Awarness)) Bifrost Access (Super-Movement 1) (dimensional: Asgard 1 (one dimension)) Chooser Of The Slain (Super-Senses 11) (accurate: Near Death Awareness, acute: Near Death Awareness, awareness: Near Death (mental), extended: Near Death Awareness 5 (-1 per 200 mi), radius: Near Death Awareness, ranged: Near Death Awareness) Divine Might (Super-Strength 5) (+25 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 6.4 tons; +5 STR to some checks) Valkyrie's Wings (Flight 10) (Speed: 10000 mph, 88000 ft./rnd) Summon Einherjar (Summon 11) (Heroic, Horde, Type (Broad) (Einherjar); Progression, # Minions (2 minions)) Valkyrie's Arsenal (Device 3) (Easy to lose, Restricted use (Valkyries)) Archaic Weapons (Array 7) (default power: strike) Valkyrie's Bow (Blast 3) (Array; DC 23, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Valkyrie's Bow (Blast 3)); Mighty 5 (+5 to damage), Precise) Valkyrie's Sword (Strike 3) (Default; DC 23, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Valkyrie's Sword (Strike 3)); Autofire (interval 2, max +5) [5 extra ranks]; Mighty) Valkyrie's Plate (Device 2) (Hard to lose, Restricted use (Valkyries)) Armor Plating (Protection 3) (+3 Toughness; Impervious [4 extra ranks]) Attack Bonus: +12 (Ranged: +12, Melee: +14, Grapple: +19/+24) Attacks: Unarmed Attack, +14 (DC 20), Valkyrie's Bow (Blast 3), +14 (DC 23), Valkyrie's Sword (Strike 3), +14 (DC 23) Defense: +14 (Flat-footed: +7), Knockback: -7 Initiative: +9 Languages: Chinese (Mandarin), English, German, Proto-Germanic Native, Russian Totals: Abilities 54 + Skills 25 (100 ranks) + Feats 19 + Powers 131 + Combat 50 + Saves 21 + Drawbacks 0 = 300 Age (as of Jan 2019): At least 10000 years (mind), 24 (body) Height: 5’ 5” Weight: 140 lbs Ethnicity: Norse Hair: Silver Eyes: Blue Theme Song: [url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHxjyBtKxpM]Folkvangr, by Peter Gundry[/url] Background: Paige Palmer wasn’t a bad kid, really. That was the beginning and the end of everything good about her life. She had a good personality. Dirt poor, starved, and beaten for the crime of being born and stretching already desperate finances further. Her parents planned to sell her of for more money to feed themselves with. Confronted with this hideous fate, she and her best friend ran away. However. She’d always been a little frail. Lack of food did not help with this. The night they fled was cold. Neither of them had decent clothing for the weather. Paige’s strength gave out before they’d gotten a mile. She lay freezing to death in a snow covered field as the wind blustered and her best friend begged her to get up. It wasn’t fair. It. Wasn’t. Fair. But anger cannot warm numb limbs or speed a failing pulse. Then, like so very many who have found themselves dying on snow covered fields across the ages, a winged warrior woman came to her. Estrid Silubra of Asgard did not offer freedom. She did not offer love. She only offered a chance to be useful. To be needed for the first and last time in Paige Palmer’s 14 years of life. A bargain was struck. And Paige died. Or so she thought. So far as the authorities know, a few days later Paige came back to life in the morgue. She dressed herself into the sheet she was covered with, walked out of the morgue, and disappeared. They’re not dead until they’re warm and dead indeed. Though to tell the truth, Estrid required her equipment. So dressed and divinely empowered, the body of Paige Palmer was unrecognizable. Paige herself slumbered as the Norse Valkyrie began her mission. What mission, you ask? The same thing valkyries have been doing for the past 10+ thousand years. Choosing among those slain in combat, delivering messages when needed, and killing supernatural creatures that threaten the safety of humans. The Valkyrion has ever been on the side of mortals in Midgard. Though there are both more and less than people think. Popular culture would have people believe there’s only a handful. Perhaps even merely three. And saying that there is more, a lot more, puts people in mind of a full army of valkryies thousands strong, if not more. In truth there are 300 valkyries, but only 60 are active at any given time. The full army is made up of their einherjar. Slain warriors they have carried to Vahalla the warrior’s paradise and not Sessrúmnir in Folkvangr the place of rest. A given valkyrie has access to at least 79 einherjar, and as many as 87. These are their preferred cohort of allies, and the membership can be exchanged with others from Valhalla at almost any time. This puts the regular field strength of the Valkyrion at anywhere from 4800 to 5280. If Asgard goes to war, expect those numbers to quintuple as all inactive valkyries are called into service. Anywhere from 24,000 to 26,400 of the finest warriors humanity has ever produced is a hell of a fighting force. Furthermore, it does not include every warrior in Vahalla. The full total of combatants in that storied hall is impossible to know. It also does not include noncombat support from Sessrúmnir and the actual gods of Asgard like Thor, Baldr, and Tyr who are far mightier than any mere valkyrie. Let alone any einherjar. Speaking of Tyr, it is he and Freya who command the Valkyrion, answering naturally to Odin. Tyr, the god of courage, war, and justice, commands Valhalla. Folkvangr is Freya’s realm, and Sessrumnir her warm and welcoming hall. She is the goddess of fertility, war, and magic. It is here we return to Estrid. Freya was the original commander before the Aesir/Vanir merger after their war in a long gone age. Estrid was a member of her original band of 60, and has remained loyal with the passage of millennia. Estrid has seen much in that span (particularly during the Christianization of Scandinavia during the 8th to 12th centuries AD), however, her emergence and borrowing of Paige Palmer’s body in 2009 was the first time she had been outside of Folkvangr in centuries. She has aided Christine Gale and Shandra Hawkins ably and well when Freya’s messages reach her. She has aided them against various demons, fallen angels, dark elves, jotunn, and on one memorable event, the god of mischief Loki himself (not to fret, he turned coat on the villains of the piece). It was, however, in 2016 where she acquired a new mission. Quite late in the 16th century, in China. She picked up an einherjar named Zhang Wei. He begged her to allow him to watch over his friend Rudy and to take in his other friend Wu Yuying, when her time came. This cost Estrid nothing. Sessrúmnir’s amenities were many, and Lady Freya could handle negotiations with King Yama the ruler of Diyu. The souls of two heroes from an age full of them came at an easy price, especially when their desires became known. Soon after taking in Wu Yuying, Estrid was deactivated and spent all of her time in Folkvangr. The price for the favor done for the two was to serve as her personal einherjar once she was reactivated. As noted, this happened in 2009. While she was on Earth or elsewhere in the Nine Realms that wasn’t Folkvangr and Sessrúmnir, the two could not watch over the sad and broken friend. It was a return to Folkvangr and Sessrúmnir in 2016 in which they found Rudy missing from where he had been. After centuries in one place, he had gone away. And they knew not where. So, when her valkyrie duties grant her the free time, Estrid searches for Rudy Evander. Three years down the road, and not a whisper. Ironically, were it not for the rift between Christine and Asteroth, she would very likely have found Rudy quite quickly. The vampire wizard delivered his location personally to the Grand Wizard Methion, after all. Powers & Tactics: As far as mundane science could tell, if they checked, Estrid is an unpowered human being. This makes sense, as Paige was one of those. Estrid is a Norse Valkyrie. A literal goddess. Chooser of the Slain. In her actual divine flesh she’s powerful enough that her presence in Midgard alone would warp reality around her. This isn’t unique to her or valkyries. All gods have this issue. So she has to tamp it down, and according to valkyrie tradition they get permission to possess a dying virgin girl worthy of Asgard. So, she’s not quite as powerful in human flesh as she would be on her own. With that said, she’s still literally divinely powered and wielding divine weapons and armor only valkyries can use. As a Chooser of the Slain, she can mentally detect those near death for thousands of miles, and then flip through their lives like a book to determine if they are worthy. All valkyries may travel the Bifrost freely to and from Asgard to perform their duties and report back as needed. Her carrying capacity is superhuman, topping out at over 12 tons. And she can summon wings that carry her at hypersonic speeds. Her weapons are merely a sword and a bow, but they are of divine make. So anything only vulnerable or extra vulnerable to divine power will get a nasty surprise is they disbelieve her divinity. In the old days, her armor repelled almost all mundane mortal weaponry. That’s…not quite the case anymore, but it’s still allows to ignore basically all mundane man portable firearms. Which isn’t nothing. Her greatest power, however, is the ability to summon the einherjar stored within her divine essesse to fight beside her. This grants them flesh, blood, and life again as long as the valkyrie is conscious, along with perfect facsimiles of any equipment they used in life. Off of Midgard, valkyries can summon all 79 to 87 einherjar they have access to. On it, only they’re generally stuck with two at a time. There are a handful that can summon more, but their direct combat skills tend to be lacking by comparison. With that said, if a valkyrie, her einherjar, and any mortal allies aren’t enough to deal with a supernatural threat, it’s definitely something that needs to be reported to Father Odin instead of fought to the death. Such matters are generally delegated to Lord Tyr and Lady Freya, who may deal with the situation personally or alert Midgard’s mightiest champions to the issue. Tactically, she’s a flying swordswoman or archer. She, of course, summons Zhang Wei and Wu Yuying to aid her as soon as possible if she hasn’t done so before battle even starts. She has Improved Startle to hit easier and Improved Demoralize to cripple damage resistance. She has All Out and Power Attack for going full berzerkergang, and Defensive Attack for staying more composed. Improved Aim, if she has the time, can also help her hit. Takedown Attack 2 with her sword can slash through minions like a scythe through wheat. She uses Artificer (which is Norse seidr magic; it uses runes) instead of power stunting. For the record, she can summon other einherjar with Summon Einherjar. A power stunt isn’t required because of the Broad extra. She just prefers Wei and Yuying. If you, Dear Reader, would prefer someone different, you go ahead build them. Up to PL 11 and 165 PP to work with. Have fun. Personality: Estrid is a fairly typical Norse Valkyrie. A stoic professional soldier. Fair and honorable. Her loyalties to Freya and Odin (in that order) are unbreakable. She may be inhabiting a human body, but she’s not human and doesn’t pretend to be. “On the clock”, so to speak, she is as colder than any jotnar. Emotion mustn’t play a role in battlefield tactics, she says. She’s from the oldest of schools, where those who make themselves foes are cut down without mercy. Except, naturally, if they throw down their arms and surrender. She comes off as kind of arrogant, actually, if one doesn’t know/believe/care that she’s a goddess. This is an interesting kind of arrogance, however, as she doesn’t appear to care what humans think of her. Insulting the Norse gods, however, is a good way to get on her bad side. She has a strong sense of propriety; of what gods and humans are and aren’t permitted to do. She doesn’t interfere with human free will, mind, but she may well voice her disapproval of certain matters. Monsters aren’t so much as permitted to exist. This, however, is is again “on the clock”. During downtime she literally and figuratively lets her hair down. Because the Norse, be they gods or Vikings, knew how to party. During inactive periods, valkyries are serving maids in both Valhalla and Sessrúmnir. So they know how to mix a good drink and prepare a fine meal. Honestly, she’s a stalwart companion any warrior would be more than happy to have at their side. Because that’s what she is. A Viking warrior goddess. Her highest compliment is a simple “Hail, warrior.” What separates her from other valkyries in personality, however, is a little bit of vanity. She’s one of the few among the 300 who cares about any human she inhabits looking like her. Indeed, Estrid Silubra’s divine flesh and Paige Palmer could easily pass for sisters, if not identical twins. The only difference is that Paige had platinum blonde hair, not silver. Speaking of Paige, there are times when even valkyries must rest and regain their strength. There are even those who know how to suppress the bond between a valkyrie and her host body. And so occasionally through the last ten years Paige Palmer has emerged from her slumber. She has none of Estrid’s divine confidence or stoicism. She’s very contemplative and melancholy most of the time. However, those expecting a shrinking violet with all the courage of a mouse will be sorely disappointed. She and Estrid share a brain. Therefore, they share all their knowledge and memories. She was hailed as a warrior by Estrid and chosen as one of Folkvangr’s einherjar. A wimp, she is not. With the armor, skills, and powers of a valkyrie temporarily at her command, she can kick ass too.

Robin McKinnon Power Level: 8; Power Points Spent: 165/165 STR: +2 (14), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +2 (14), INT: +2 (14), WIS: +3 (16), CHA: +2 (14) Tough: +2/+4, Fort: +6, Ref: +12, Will: +9 Skills: Acrobatics 7 (+10), Bluff 8 (+10), Craft (mechanical) 3 (+5), Diplomacy 8 (+10), Drive 7 (+10), Gather Information 8 (+10), Intimidate 8 (+10), Investigate 3 (+5), Knowledge (arcane Lore) 3 (+5), Knowledge (civics) 3 (+5), Knowledge (history) 3 (+5), Knowledge (streetwise) 8 (+10), Knowledge (tactics) 13 (+15), Knowledge (technology) 3 (+5), Knowledge (theology & philosophy) 3 (+5), Language 1 (+1), Medicine 2 (+5), Notice 7 (+10), Search 8 (+10), Sense Motive 7 (+10), Sleight of Hand 2 (+5), Stealth 7 (+10), Survival 2 (+5) Feats: Attack Focus (melee) 2, Connected, Contacts, Defensive Attack, Dodge Focus, Equipment 2, Evasion, Grappling Finesse, Improved Critical (Custom Heavy Pistol (Blast 4)), Improved Critical (Silver Knife-Damage (Strike 2)), Improved Critical (Silver Knife-Stun (Stun 4)), Improved Initiative, Improved Pin, Improved Throw, Improved Trip, Master Plan, Master Plan 2 (tactics), Move-by Action, Precise Shot, Quick Draw, Second Chance 2 (Toughness saves vs Ballistic & Piercing), Skill Mastery (Diplomacy, Gather Info, KN (tactics), Notice), Takedown Attack 2, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory), Well-Informed Powers: Body Armor (Device 1) (Hard to lose) Kevlar w/ Stab Vest (Protection 2) (+2 Toughness, Feats: Second Chance 2 (Toughness saves vs Ballistic & Piercing); Subtle (subtle)) Monster Hunter's Arsenal (Device 4) (Easy to lose; Custom 5 (Multiple Weapons 4)) Weapons (Array 7) (default power: blast) Crucifix-Exorcism (Nullify 6) (Array; counters: all powers of (type) - demonic/infernal/hellfire, DC 16; Burst Area (30 ft. radius - General); Range (touch); Affects Insubstantial 2 (full power)) Crucifix-Holy Ward (Mind Control 6) (Array; DC 16; Burst Area (30 ft. radius - General), Duration 2 (continuous), Secondary Effect, Total Fade; Fades, Limited (No Effect on targets without any Demonic/Infernal/Hellfire Powers), One Command (Stay Out Of Area), Range 2 (touch); Slow Fade 2 (5 minutes)) Custom Heavy Pistol (Blast 4) (Default; DC 19, Feats: Improved Critical (Custom Heavy Pistol (Blast 4)); Accurate (+2), Improved Range (100 ft. incr), Precise, Subtle (subtle), Variable Descriptor (Narrow group - Ballistic, Iron, Silver)) Shotgun-Salt Buckshot (Stun 6) (Array; DC 16; Alternate Save (Reflex), Range (ranged); Limited (to Ghosts/Spirits/Etc); Affects Insubstantial 2 (full power)) Shotgun-Slug (Blast 6) (Array; DC 21; Penetrating [2 ranks only]) Silver Knife (Linked) Silver Knife-Damage (Strike 2) (Linked; DC 19, Feats: Improved Critical (Silver Knife-Damage (Strike 2)); Secondary Effect [2 extra ranks]; Limited (Secondary Effect limited to foes Vulnerable to Silver) [2 extra ranks]; Mighty) Silver Knife-Stun (Stun 4) (Linked; DC 14, Feats: Improved Critical (Silver Knife-Stun (Stun 4)); Secondary Effect; Limited (to targets Vulnerable to Silver)) Submachine Gun (Blast 4) (Array; DC 19; Autofire (interval 2, max +5); Accurate (+2), Improved Range (100 ft. incr)) Equipment: Robin's Car Attack Bonus: +10 (Ranged: +10, Melee: +12, Grapple: +15) Attacks: Crucifix-Exorcism (Nullify 6) (DC Will 16), Crucifix-Holy Ward (Mind Control 6) (DC Will 16), Custom Heavy Pistol (Blast 4), +12 (DC 19), Shotgun-Salt Buckshot (Stun 6), +10 (DC Ref/Staged 16), Shotgun-Slug (Blast 6), +10 (DC 21), Silver Knife-Damage (Strike 2), +12 (DC 19), Silver Knife-Stun (Stun 4), +12 (DC Fort/Staged 14), Submachine Gun (Blast 4), +12 (DC 19), Unarmed Attack, +12 (DC 17) Defense: +12 (Flat-footed: +6), Knockback: -2 Initiative: +7 Languages: English Native, Spanish Totals: Abilities 28 + Skills 31 (124 ranks) + Feats 24 + Powers 21 + Combat 42 + Saves 19 + Drawbacks 0 = 165 ****************************************************************************************** Robin's Car Power Level: 8; Equipment Points Spent: 10 STR: +10 (30) Toughness: +8 Features: Navigation System 1 Powers: Speed 5 (Speed: 250 mph, 2200 ft./rnd) Defense: -1, Size: Large Totals: Abilities 2 + Skills 0 (0 ranks) + Feats 0 + Features 1 + Powers 5 + Combat 1 + Saves 1 + Drawbacks 0 + Equipment 0 (0 ep) + Weapons & Armor 0 (0 ep) = 10 Age (as of Jan 2019): 46 Height: 5’ 8” Weight: 145 lbs Ethnicity: Caucasian Hair: Blonde Eyes: Blue Theme Song: [url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BtkH5mT8lI]Bound! by McGwire[/url] Background: Robin McKinnon is the bitch who slit Nyoan Ayano’s throat back then. Though in her defense, that was the penultimate moment of a slow motion breakdown. The ultimate being a few months later when she murdered a man with a ice pick (at the man’s request) specifically frame Asteroth for his murder and turn Seth Roth against him. The Robin McKinnon of three years and change prior would have been horrified. She was a police detective. All she’d ever wanted to be. Irish cop from a family full of Irish cops. She worked Homicide, which is how she caught the case that led her to Asteroth. Or, as she first knew him, Adam Roth. Private detective without a license, working on a serial killer case. It was…God, twenty years ago now. She knows now that a demon was body hopping and that’s what was leaving the corpses behind. At the time, Asteroth, Christine Gale, and Glenn Ayano resolved the case and left her with a conveniently dead scapegoat (the demon’s last body) to take the fall. They’d run into each other several more times over that first year (and indeed into the second), as the fledgling Roth Investigations got its feet under it. Homicide detectives aren’t selected for their stupidity. A new super group had more or less set up shot and she had been more or less roped in as the predictable “friend on the force”. She wasn’t entirely ignorant about the existence of the supernatural, either. A person couldn’t be a homicide detective in a major city and not know something was strange, sometimes. It is key to again note here up until this point she knew Asteroth as Adam Roth, superpowered human being. Until a blast from Asteroth’s past (one of his bloodline he’d managed to miss back in the summer of 1917) blew the lid off of kind of everything for Robin. Adam Roth was a vampire named Asteroth. Not only was the supernatural real, but it was a hell of a lot more dangerous to regular people than she could have ever imagined. She was a weird kind of friends with Adam Roth, superpowered human being. But the least bit of historical research displayed Asteroth for the hideous, horrifying monster he was. Her worldview was shattered. This isn’t an uncommon state for those who come face to face with the supernatural, aren’t killed, and have the inner strength to not immediately begin applying industrial strength denial to the experience. Most of them manage to put themselves back together and not go some variety of insane in the process, too. Robin probably would have even been one of these. Except for one small problem. Her father, Sean McKinnon, retired from the LAPD that year. He’d never been any more than a beat cop, really. But a beat cop sees a lot. And has a lot of opportunities to be less than moral. To make a long story short, he was cooperating with a gang of Amon vampires. Not to keep them in blood, but in drugs and money. Garden variety police corruption, except it involved vampires. And when Shandra Hawkins’s old street allies called for aid, she and Christine answered. This being largely before everyone had cellphones, this drew in Asteroth and Nyoan as well. The vampires were thwarted and their demonic master killed. This, naturally, brought wrath down about Sean McKinnon. Can’t have loose ends plus vampires tend to be assholes. Asteroth was there. Outside the open apartment door. Vampires have to be invited into occupied residential spaces. Sean knew the two Amons (granted, he thought they were human) weren’t there to wish him well. He also knew that Asteroth was a friendly enough associate of his daughter. They’d met a few times already. Sean McKinnon died telling the one being who could have saved his life to get lost. Robin arrived less than a minute later, as the Amons turned to dust under Asteroth’s fists. The monsters had gotten her beloved father. It was that incident that started her breakdown. Her obsessive tracking of supernatural incidents had been affecting her job performance. After this, her obsession got worse, to the extent that she was fired. Those who know how difficult it is to get a cop fired ought to understand how far gone she was. Coincidentally, this was the very same day Seth Roth was conceived, so Asteroth had had his little epiphany and gotten his groove back. Robin went home, placed one phone call to his answering machine (in which she tearfully railed against him, life, the universe, and everything) and started swallowing as many pills and ounces of booze as she could find in her apartment. Asteroth arrived home, listened to the message, and literally ran back out. She wasn’t conscious enough to invite him in. For some strange reason, this was irrelevant. A cold shower and a detox spell saved her life. A little later that night, they finally had a proper heart to heart discussion. It could not be said that they parted friends, but an understanding was reached. For Robin’s part, she understood what Asteroth was. A monster that both wanted and needed to be put down. So she started gathering gear, training, and most importantly hunting lesser monsters. She was probably the best unaffiliated monster hunter in Los Angeles when a certain vampire hunter from Asteroth’s past arrived in the present. This is probably why he approached her to be his ally. And his grudge against Asteroth is probably why she accepted. Psychologically she may have been spiraling, but physically she’d never been in better condition. Nyoan knew her as an old friendly associate. Of course she trusted the former cop with her fears (specifically, that Asteroth was going to kill baby Seth Roth and accepted her help. Then Robin crossed a line she never imagined she would have years prior, and attempted to kill a human being. She stole baby Seth and ran to the vampire hunter. Of course, the Roth team tracked and pursued. The vampire hunter and Seth ended up in that parallel dimension. And the only one who knew about Robin’s involvement was Nyoan, who was literally unable to speak at that time. Of course, the vampire hunter and Seth came back from there, both much older than when they’d left. Their plans reached that crescendo. She murdered the now elderly vampire hunter and made it look like a vampire did it. So that Seth would hate his father was much as the two of them did. It worked. The enraged Seth called his father to a beach to talk, and then beat him into the sand. He was stunned just long enough for the final masterstroke of the plan. A reinforced steel box inscribed with antimagic runes. The two shoved him in, the box onto a rented boat, and dropped the box into the Pacific. Being alone and hungry for the rest of forever seemed a fitting punishment for such a monster. Nyoan Ayano had other ideas. Seth was currently living the good life with Christine, Shandra, and Ryan Masterson as they tried to find his father in addition to the usual monster hunting casework. Robin was not doing this, so Nyoan nabbed her. She kept Robin prisoner for months until they found Asteroth and brought him out of the ocean. And then Nyoan told Robin to get the hell out of Los Angeles. If she ever saw Robin again, she’d kill her. And if that didn’t work, a dead drop would inform Asteroth of everything she’d done to his son, and he’d kill her. Robin, understandably, fled LA, This was, arguably, the best thing that could have possibly happened to her. The mundane business of changing her city of residence, getting a new job and all her stuff moved cross country, grounded her in an unexpected way. She moved to New York City. Her new job was Assistant District Attorney. She’d gotten a law degree before taking the detective’s exam, but had never passed the bar. In NYC, she did pass the bar. It was a fresh start, and initially it worked. She stopped being a monster hunter, ignored the supernatural, and simply did the best she could to pursue justice. Eyes that have been opened, however, are not so easily closed again. The supernatural existed in New York, the same as Los Angeles. And a part of her simply couldn’t leave it alone. She couldn’t ignore what was happening out there and let people be hurt, killed, or worse by monsters. She was in the DA’s office for three and a half years before being fired for incompetence. Said incompetence wasn’t due to a lack of ability, but due to being up late most nights hunting vampires, werewolves, demons, and other monsters. This was 2006. 13 years ago. She has periodically tried to get out of the monster hunting life. It never lasts. They amount to brief money gathering stints before she’s on the road again. Coincidentally, 2006 was also the year Christine and Shandra joined the ranks of America’s roving monster hunters. They’ve crossed paths several times, and it appears that Nyoan has kept her word. As long as Robin doesn’t return to Los Angeles, what she did in her darkest moments will remain secret. She’s actually weirdly grateful? In a way, Nyoan saved her back then. And today, she’s a long time veteran with the respect of most of the monster hunting community. Most keep the stories of what made them monster hunters to themselves, and Robin is no exception. The rise of Harry Brandle’s informal Court of Demon Hunters and allies has made those who want nothing to do with him organize as well. This has put Robin in an interesting position. Christine and Shandra may be seen as the leaders, but it’s often like an officers vs noncoms thing. They’re the commanding colonel and her right hand major. Robin is like the stalwart master sergeant. Sure, whatever. Of course, this means she’s meeting up with Christine, Shandra, and probably Estrid Silubra and Marisol Almeida several times a year. Again, sure. Whatever. It is kind of disconcerting that Estrid keeps looking at her for longer and longer every time they meet up again. Having a literal valkyrie take more and more of an interest in you really feels like a bad omen. Like your lifespan is shrinking before her eyes. Nope. Don’t like that. Powers & Tactics: Robin has no superhuman powers. She has one technological device in her body armor and a handful of weapons from various (mostly technological) sources. The body armor is basically from her LAPD days. She still had contacts. Basic extra bit of armor. Kevlar with a stab vest, so it’s extra protective against bullets and stabbing weapons like knives and arrows. It is her assortment of weapons that requires a detailed explanation. Three firearms (heavy pistol, shotgun, and submachine gun), a knife, and a crucifix. The SMG is pretty standard. Slight increases to accuracy and range. The heavy pistol has similar mods, but she carries more than regular bullets. Both cold iron and silver are on the menu as needed. The shotgun is, well, a shotgun. Solid slug rounds do relatively high damage for a firearm. The thing is, she can also pop some salt buckshot rounds in there and stun ghosts and spirits as salt can disrupt their ectoplasmic stability. The knife is silver, but otherwise isn’t particularly special. Because it’s silver, it can do additional damage and even stun those more vulnerable to the metal than baseline humans. All of those were more or less technological in nature. The crucifix, however, is actually a divine artifact. It can negate infernal powers or prevent thouse with them from entering an area. This latter ability is “fire and forget” as it’ll last a full hour in one spot. Tactically, Robin is very situational. She exploits weaknesses. Silver for therianthropes, iron for the Fae, divine to keep the infernal off of her or any vulnerable civilians, salt buckshot to disperse ghosts. Some monsters don’t come with easily exploited weaknesses like that, and so there’s always just shooting them. Solid slugs or the SMG depending whether she needs power or accuracy more. She can Feint and Demoralize, but she’s not especially great at either. She has Defensive Attack to protect herself with. Between Grappling Finesse, Improved Pin, Improved Throw, and Improved Trip she can be very dangerous in melee. Move by Action keeps her mobile while shooting. Takedown Attack 2 turns having to use her knife into a mook horror show. With that said, she does her best work preparing for the fight, not inside of it. Master Plan 2 can give her a boost of +3 to attack bonuses and skill checks for 3 rounds, and then +2 and +1 for one each. Contacts and Well Informed help her know what’s she up against plus how to exploit their weaknesses, and Contacts help her get it if she doesn’t already have it. She can technically power stunt by pulling out a different weapon she doesn’t normally care to exploit a weakness she’s not equipped for. But it’s not something she normally does. Personality: Robin hates monsters. This is not a frothing at the mouth “kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out” hatred. It is cold. Logical. Rational. Or so she tells herself. To be fair, she has a point. The vast majority of supernatural creatures range from antagonistic to outstandingly hostile to humanity. Destroying them tends to be in the best interests of humanity. Her problem is that she started from a place of grief and unyielding rage. Yes, grief fades. Yes, rage abates. Normally. The more time she spent as a monster hunter, the more she saw what was hidden in plain view. In the dark corners that almost everyone averts their eyes and pretends don’t exist. Monsters are like any other kind of predator, you see. They prey on the weak. The vulnerable. Those isolated from mainstream society. And if the things doing this were human, they’d have been hunted down and caged a long, long time ago. Robin was a cop out of family tradition, yeah. But she became a detective and specifically a homicide detective to get justice for the victims. She believed in justice. She believed in the power of the law. There were some flaws in how people applied it. She wasn’t blind to the influence of wealth and power on the system. But dammit, it was far better than the days of kings, tyrants, and warlords. Except those days weren’t nearly as gone as she thought. Monsters prowled the shadows taking whoever they wanted, and the law was blind and deaf. The only justice available against them was what one could get for themselves. She was mad about her father’s death, yeah. But he was just one of thousands that year. She tried to shrug it off after leaving LA. But she couldn’t stop seeing it happening. That was a vampire. That was a Fae trickster, not a licensed defense attorney. The perp in this case couldn’t have done it, these burns were from Hellfire not regular fire. Of course, if anyone talks about these things in mundane society they start talking about mental stability and sending for those very nice brawny men in scrubs. And so, she is bound. There is no escape. Her own values and personality traits bind to her course more than any supernatural effect ever could. If what she hunted was human, it’d be easy to characterize her as a terrifying bloodthirsty vigilante. But the things she hunts are far scarier than one unpowered human woman could ever be. She cannot unsee what she has seen. Eyes that have been opened cannot be closed again. Thus a woman who believed in human law and human justice has forsaken both as deeply inadequate, and spends her days seeking something more absolute. Despite there being no such thing whatsoever. Violence for violence is the rule of beasts. If humans overcame the beast kingdom long ago, then we can do the same to the supernatural.

The Hunters Theme Song: [url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X_2IdybTV0]Carry On My Wayward Son, by Kansas[/url] Overview There have always been monster hunters. Since before the dawn of agriculture ten thousand years ago, there have always been monster hunters. From the very beginning, various inhuman creatures have stalked humanity. And from the very beginning, humans have taken up weapons and hunted them right back. To be clear, not all monster hunters are heroes. Some of them have been real bastards whose only saving grace was directing their violence towards beings worse than they were. In the 21st century, monster hunting is a dirty business, too. A few centuries back, if one was outside the major settlements, well. Everybody knew what the folks carrying religious symbols, silver, and lots of weapons were doing. They bought them drink, fed them while they were in town, and often paid rewards for proof of having killed the monster(s) in question. Going back even earlier, local rules may have even employed such persons. Think about it. How many legends and myths are there about a hero going out and killing an unstoppable monster rampaging across the countryside? They’re not all literally true, of course, but they do reflect a broader pattern of how things used to be. Until the Industrial Revolution, the rise of science, and the resulting population explosion of the last century changed everything. People don’t believe in monsters anymore. Not like they used to. When the night was lit only by fire and help further away than one could yell might as well be on the moon, there was a proper and healthy fear among the common people about running into something out there at night. When horses and one’s own feet were the major methods of transportation, a stranger behaving oddly (or entirely too un-oddly) was someone to be wary of. In modern times, with street lighting, flashlights, and mobile phones to summon help, the fear of what might be out there in the dark has weakened significantly. Trains, cars, and planes mean anybody could see over a thousand strangers a day. Who has the time to worry about one of them being a little weird? In the United States alone, over 600K people go missing every year (though it has been trending downward since the 90s), though approximately 90K are missing at any given time. Most are found. Only about 2200 remain missing each year. More disturbingly, 4400 unidentified bodies are found every year. Many of these have died of natural causes, to be sure. But not all. But talk about this, and you’re the weirdo. The social outcast. The buzzkill. There’s a lot of words for it. Pick one. Monsters have not gone away. There are arguably less of them than there were a thousand, five hundred, or even two hundred and fifty years ago. (Except the vampires. There are more of those than ever.) Monster hunters have mostly succeeded in driving supernatural creatures that prey on humans out of the world. But the cost has been dear. Monster hunters face the same odds as regular heroes and villains do. 90% have stopped before their first anniversary of starting. 90% of those have stopped before their fifth anniversary. The difference is that heroes and villains have a higher survival rate. Villains are usually incarcerated, not killed. Heroes have a wide variety of reasons why they stop instead of merely being killed all the time. Injuries, to be sure, play a role, but they also have life changes. Loss of interest. Lots of things. For monster hunters, by far the number one reason (by a country mile) their careers end is “killed by monster”. It is a lonely existence. People generally don’t believe in the supernatural, after all, and the people who do are weirdo freaks who just might be dangerously crazy. The modern rule of law makes having the correct gear rather difficult in most countries. It is ironic. The same laws that protect humans from each other leave them more defenseless against other things. So, monster hunters in modern times are generally outlaws, which their traditional nomadism only makes worse. Tough to have a steady job if you’re always hitting the road every week or so to both chase the next monster and stay one step ahead of the law. Many modern monster hunters have been confused with actual supervillains. As stated in Christine Gale and Shandra Hawkins’s entries, the rise of Harry Brandle’s informal Court has unleashed a new power block on the supernatural scene. Those who don’t want anything to do with him (for whatever reason) have been banding together, with Christine and Shandra ending up the de facto leadership. There is, as ever, a little more to the story, but I think we’ve been here long enough, yes? And you, my Dear Readers, are no doubt smart enough to figure out how a bunch of nomadic loner outlaws unified only by their unofficial profession and opposition to the goody two shoes-ness of Harry Brandle are doing at making that unification into something a bit more.

Scion (Seth Roth) Power Level: 13; Power Points Spent: 240/240 STR: +15 (18/40), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +15 (18/40), INT: +2 (14), WIS: +2 (14), CHA: +3 (16) Tough: +15, Fort: +15, Ref: +8/+11, Will: +7 Skills: Acrobatics 12 (+15), Bluff 2 (+5), Diplomacy 7 (+10), Escape Artist 2 (+5), Gather Information 2 (+5), Intimidate 7 (+10), Knowledge (arcane Lore) 3 (+5), Knowledge (behavioral science) 8 (+10), Knowledge (streetwise) 3 (+5), Notice 8 (+10), Sense Motive 8 (+10), Sleight of Hand 2 (+5), Stealth 12 (+15), Survival 8 (+10) Feats: Accurate Attack, Acrobatic Bluff, All-Out Attack, Attack Focus (melee) 4, Challenge - Improved Acrobatic Bluff, Dodge Focus 3, Evasion, Improved Initiative 2, Improved Trick, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Set-Up, Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Notice, Stealth, Survival), Takedown Attack 2, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: Unique Dhampiric Physiology (Container, Passive 21) Dhampiric Leaping (Leaping 4+2) ([Stacking ranks: +2], Jumping distance: x100) Dhampiric Longevity (Features 1) Dhampiric Might (Super-Strength 6) (+30 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 819.2 tons; +6 STR to some checks) Dhampiric Quickness (Quickness 4+2) ([Stacking ranks: +2], Perform routine tasks at 100x speed) Dhampiric Reflexes (Enhanced Trait 12) (Traits: Attack Bonus +2 (+7), Defense Bonus +2 (+11), Reflex +2 (+11), Feats: Improved Initiative 2) Dhampiric Regeneration (Regeneration 17) (ability damage 3 (recover 1 / 20 mins), recovery rate (bruised) 3 (recover 1 / round without rest), recovery rate (disabled) 4 (recover 1 / 5 mins), recovery rate (injured) 3 (recover 1 / minute), recovery rate (staggered) 4 (recover 1 / round); Persistent, Regrowth) Dhampiric Resilience (Enhanced Constitution 12) (+12 CON) Dhampiric Senses (Super-Senses 10) (darkvision, extended: Normal Olfactory 1 (-1 per 100 ft), extended (type): Auditory 1 (-1 per 100 ft), extended (type): Visual 1 (-1 per 100 ft), infravision, scent, ultra-hearing) Dhampiric Speed (Speed 4+2) ([Stacking ranks: +2], Speed: 500 mph, 4400 ft./rnd) Dhampiric Strength (Enhanced Strength 12) (+12 STR) Undead Heritage (Immunity 30) (fortitude saves; Limited - Half Effect) Unpredictable Power Boost (Container, Active 10) (Tiring, Uncontrolled) Boosted Leaping (Leaping 2) (Jumping distance: x5; Stacks with (Dhampiric Leaping (Leaping 4+2))) Boosted Might (Super-Strength 2) (+10 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 819.2 tons; +2 STR to some checks) Boosted Quickness (Quickness 2) (Perform routine tasks at 5x speed; Stacks with (Dhampiric Quickness (Quickness 4+2))) Boosted Reflexes (Enhanced Trait 5) (Traits: Attack Bonus +1 (+7), Defense Bonus +1 (+11), Reflex +1 (+11)) Boosted Speed (Speed 2) (Speed: 25 mph, 220 ft./rnd; Stacks with (Dhampiric Speed (Speed 4+2))) Boosted Strength & Resilience (Enhanced Trait 20) (Traits: Strength +10 (40, +15), Constitution +10 (40, +15)) Mental Resistance (Immunity 30) (will saves; Limited - Half Effect) Attack Bonus: +4/+7 (Ranged: +4/+7, Melee: +8/+11, Grapple: +23/+34) Attacks: Unarmed Attack, +11 (DC 30) Defense: +8/+11 (Flat-footed: +4), Knockback: -7 Initiative: +11 Languages: Native Language Totals: Abilities 36 + Skills 21 (84 ranks) + Feats 20 + Powers 135 + Combat 18 + Saves 10 + Drawbacks 0 = 240 Age (as of Jan 2019): 17 (chronological), it’s complicated (actual), early 20s (biological) Height: 5’ 8” Weight: 170 lbs Ethnicity: ½ Sumerian (roughly equivalent to modern Greek or Turkish), ½ North African (Berber, to be specific) Hair: Black Eyes: Dark Brown Theme Song: [url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb7ZrGIgK6U]Born For This, by Divide Music[/url] Background: Seth Roth is the biological son of Asteroth and Dhana. Two vampires. An absolute impossibility. Dhampirs are normally created in very special circumstances. A pregnant woman turned and the child extracted before the process is complete. It is not known how in the world Seth came to successfully conceived, but the main theory involved literal divine intervention. Which divinity did it is anyone’s guess. Aside from that, Asteroth had the second worst moment of his unlife. No matter what he did, he would never be free of Good and Evil’s attempts to manipulate and use him for their own purposes. The Never Ending Battle was, in fact, never ending, and refused to allow him to exempt himself from it. He could not destroy either side. He could not permanently destroy himself. He could not escape through any other method. For all the power he could wield, he was powerless to change the course of existence itself. Wanting to feel something, anything, beside the relentless despair, he did a very stupid thing. He gave the resurrected Dhana what she’d wanted from him for centuries. For the record, it takes magic to get the very dead bodies of vampires to “get it up”, so to speak. That night more or less put Asteroth onto his current path as the Wild Card. A one being third side in the war of Good vs. Evil. He threw Dhana out, and a bunch of other stuff happened. She did not return for just shy of nine months. This return was made while clearly deep into the third trimester of a flatly impossible pregnancy. The fetus had, for lack of a better way to put it, partially resurrected her. This tied into the reemergence of an old vampire hunting enemy who started hunting the two of them down, ignorant of what had happened in the interim and now virtually invulnerable in the bargain. What the two of them had done to that mad, centuries prior, well. Let’s just say he was quite correct to want to destroy them both and use any and all means at his disposal to do it. Things got quite messy, and in the end Dhana tore out her own heart to save her child. A corpse, after all, cannot give birth, and whatever supernatural force was powering the pregnancy was fading. Thus was born Seth Roth. During a driving rainstorm. In an alley next to a burning building. As the wind howled and the earth shook. Asteroth was, uncharacteristically, a doting father. It was a month before he let anyone else hold baby Seth. The Roth Investigations office was quite a happy place in those days. But of course, it was not to last. A false prophecy deceived Nyoan Ayano into thinking the father would kill the son. She in turn was deceived by Robin McKinnon into giving her Seth. Robin promptly slit Nyoan’s throat by surprise and carried Seth off to the vampire hunter. More events ensued, leaving Seth and the vampire hunter stranded in a parallel dimension where demons had never been booted off the planet. Asteroth could not reopen the dimensional gate. His son was gone. For about a month. Time apparently moved faster in that dimension, because he came back looking like he was in his mid teens. A trained demon ass kicker, thanks to the vampire hunter. Seth was intricately involved in the next year and a half of Roth Investigations events, at first as an adversary on the side of the vampire hunter (who had returned at the same time but not the same place as Seth) and Robin. But the Roth crew started changing that. The vampire hunter’s powers had faded and he had aged severely. So as a last gambit he faked his own death via vampire bite. Instantly turning Seth against his father and everyone at Roth. This got Asteroth planted at the bottom of the Pacific for a summer. Until Nyoan, using Robin, found him. Seth was even more intricately involved in the Elizabeth incident, literally fathering her new body through the possessed body of Christine Gale. He is also the one who brought to a much more quiet end than a vampire wizard squaring off against a junior level deity tier opponent. Invulnerable to almost all attacks…except ones from her “parents”. He shattered her head with one blow and then ran away. He was traumatized and emotionally broken. Having spent literally his entire life as the pawn or puppet of one person or another. For the spell that wiped everyone but Asteroth’s memories of the poor boy to work, well. The false prophecy had to come truth. The father had to kill the son. Or at least, striking a killing blow. Seth spent the ensuring two and half years as a normal middle class suburban kid. Adopted by a lovely couple with an older brother and a younger sister. He had no inkling of his former existence. That is, until Nyoan broke the spell. This did not actually change his day to day life. His new family did not suddenly forget him. They weren’t a part of the spell, you see. He simply remembered everything plus his two and half years of peace, love, and family. He did not show up again to any of the Roth team until May 19, 2006. He showed up to help Asteroth with his end. He was uh, out of his weight class. The two officially reconciled, and Asteroth told him to go home. He did not go home. He followed Verity Campbell to the fight Chiaki Ayano, Lloyd Adams, and Heidi Roberts were having with Bloodfang Alpha. When the two arrived, Alejo Escarra turned on the villain team, and the six of them killed basically all of them before going their separate ways. For the record, Seth did go home after that. The following six years were relatively quiet for Seth. He graduated high school. Started attending UCLA. Started doing some volunteering. He’d had some long homeless days and met his share of desperate people. There’s things he can do to help. Especially if he majors in social work. And, aside from graduating UCLA, that’s the story until Lloyd came looking for him. He had no problem joining the reformed Bloodfang Alpha. It’d get him more time with his father, and he could actually do more good in a team than by himself. And once again, that’s the story. He’s a real social worker these days, but that’s the only change. There’s just one little kicker. One of the prophecies about him may have been false. This does not mean all the others are. And there are a lot of other prophecies about The Son of Asteroth. About the son of the Wild Card. About the impossible child of two vampires. About the only dhampir who’s more human than demon. How Powers & Tactics: Seth is an extremely unique type of dhampir. So unique that he’s apparently the only one in the world. First and foremost, he’s got a strong resistance to, uh, every possible bodily effect. In the same way that vampire can utterly ignore things like tasers, sleep gas, poisons, etc, he can has a very strong chance to do the same no matter what it is. Despite being a living being. He’s got superhuman strength, able to crack steel with a casual punch and a maximum carrying capacity of over 100 tons. His resilience keeps pace, even if he can’t ignore any damage. His injury recovery speed is remarkable. He can go from what would be severe, life-threatening injuries for an unpowered human to fully healed in under a half hour without any medical attention. His speed, quickness, and reflexes are superhuman, if minorly so, and said reflexes increase his attack accuracy and evasion. He can jump hundreds of feet in a single bound. His senses are also remarkable. He can see without light (though infrared will do if there’s nothing else) and he can hear almost all frequencies of sound. His hearing can even pinpoint exact position, making his ears basically miniature sonar dishes. He’s got the nose of a bloodhound if not the tracking ability. And eyes, ears, and nose can detect for hundreds of feet. Furthermore, sometimes his strength and resilience spikes. And his speed, quickness, reflexes, and leaping ability also increase. In this state, his mind is much more resilient than normal. It is not clear what this state is. He can’t seem to induce it himself without tiring himself in the process. And since it wears him out to begin with, when it turns off he’ll be totally exhausted. In this state, he goes from cracking steel to cracking titanium, and his carrying capacity jumps eightfold to over 800 tons. He can outrun cars easily and leap thousands of feat in one bound. Whatever this is, it makes him a lot more powerful and a lot more mobile. Tactically, Seth is just an unarmed fighter. Punches, kicks, knees, and elbows. His mobility and senses make it easier than most to get to those who don’t want to be hit with unarmed strikes. Stealth is also useful for a powerful first strike, if he can manage it. Not all supernatural creatures have Stealth counting senses, after all. He’s got Improved Acrobatic Bluff to hit easier, Improved Trick to make his enemies’ lives miserable before he ends them, and Set Up to transfer the benefits of both to someone else if necessary. He’s got All Out and Power Attack for maximum berserk fury attacking. Move by Action keeps him mobile. And Takedown Attack 2 lets him mow through minions. He doesn’t know that power stunting is a thing that exists, much less how he’d ever do it. Personality: Seth is, well, his father’s son. For better or worse. He’s got selfish and stubborn streaks a mile wide, and with his apparent youth he can seem all the more childish for it. With that said, he’s missing the crushing guilt and remorse for over a millennium of hideous evil, so he’s actually a much more cheerful person. He also shares his father’s strong sense of empathy for those who’ve been not only (metaphorically speaking) knocked down, but knocked down and repeatedly kicked. For him, helping people isn’t about Doing Good or any other reason born out of morality. It’s because he doesn’t like what happened to them and wants to fix it. Sometimes fixing it involves violence, which the part of that’s demonic really enjoys doing. Because (again, much like his father) he has a nasty temper. Unlike his father, he struggles to keep it under control. He’s not quick-tempered, mind. It does take a reasonable amount to set him off. It’s just that once he’s set off he tends to uh, explode with a fury usually found in the largest conventional explosives, not a partially human being. Though the results tend to be similar on any targeted persons if he’s not stopped or distracted. To be clear, he’s aware of this these days and can take steps like walking away to calm down if needed. It’s just not always possible to do so. Curiously, the demonic powers don’t seem to have any undue influence on him whatsoever. All in all, he’s not a bad guy, really. The truth of him, though? He was born to do this. Born to hunt and kill monsters, be they supernatural or human. And every day he understands that more and more. It’s not even a moral thing. It’s like Lloyd says. There’s a reason for everything. There are no accidents. Coincidences do not exist. There is no happenstance. He doesn’t know about the “divine plan” part so much, but he’s been around just long enough and seen just enough happening to know. The world, the divine realms, the infernal ones, and all the others are always, always, ALWAYS making moves. Planning and scheming. There is no escape from it short of ending literally everything. Which is what some of the darkest ones actually want, so even that’s not enough. The more you try to throw the strings off, the more of a puppet you become. Or so he thinks. So screw it. He’ll be who he was born to be. But he’ll do it his own way.

Verity Campbell Power Level: 9; Power Points Spent: 210/210 STR: +1 (12), DEX: +2 (14), CON: +0 (-), INT: -1 (8), WIS: +3 (16), CHA: +10 (20/30) Tough: +0/+6, Fort: Immune, Ref: +12, Will: +9 Skills: Acrobatics 3 (+5), Bluff 10 (+20), Diplomacy 10 (+20), Gather Information 5 (+15), Intimidate 5 (+15), Knowledge (arcane Lore) 6 (+5), Knowledge (popular culture) 11 (+10), Notice 12 (+15), Perform (acting) 10 (+20), Sense Motive 12 (+15), Stealth 8 (+10) Feats: Attack Specialization 2 (Martial Arts (Strike 2)), Benefit 2 (Wealth (millionaire)), Challenge - Improved Taunt, Dodge Focus 3, Evasion, Set-Up, Skill Mastery (Bluff, Diplomacy, Perform (acting), Sense Motive), Taunt, Uncanny Dodge (Visual) Powers: Asmodeus Vampire Physiology (Container, Passive 12) Blood Drain (Drain 2) (drains: single trait - con, DC 12; Requires Grapple) Impervious Toughness 6 (Limited (Not Against Divine, Magic, or Psionic)) Sanguine Psychevorous Recovery (Regeneration 30) (recovery bonus 14 (+14 to recover), recovery rate (disabled) 8 (recover 1 / round without rest), recovery rate (injured) 6 (recover 1 / round without rest), resurrection 2 (1 day); Source (Blood/Charisma Drain); Persistent, Regrowth) Sanguine Resilience (Protection 6) (+6 Toughness) Sanguine Senses (Super-Senses 3) (acute: Scent, darkvision) Unliving Being (Immunity 30) (fortitude saves) Boosted Psyche (Enhanced Charisma 10) (+10 CHA; Total Fade; Fades (Restored by successful use of Psychevore power); Slow Fade 5 (5 hours)) Martial Arts (Strike 2) (DC 18; Mighty) Psyche Manipulation (Array 20) (default power: drain; Custom (Array 19.5)) Psyche Control (Emotion Control 9) (Array; DC 19; Duration (continuous); Custom (Insidious), Subtle 2 (unnoticable)) Psyche Reading (Mind Reading 9) (Array; DC 19; Duration 2 (continuous); Limited to Emotions; Custom (Insidious), Subtle 2 (unnoticable)) Psychevore (Drain 9) (Default; drains: single trait - charisma, DC 19; Range 2 (perception); Custom (Insidious), Subtle 2 (unnoticable)) Wither Psyche (Blast 9) (Array; DC 24; Alternate Save (Will), Range (perception); Custom (Insidious), Subtle 2 (unnoticable)) Attack Bonus: +5 (Ranged: +5, Melee: +5, Grapple: +6) Attacks: Blood Drain (Drain 2), +5 (DC Fort/Staged 12), Martial Arts (Strike 2), +9 (DC 18), Psyche Control (Emotion Control 9) (DC Staged/Will 19), Psyche Reading (Mind Reading 9) (DC Will 19), Psychevore (Drain 9) (DC Fort/Staged 19), Unarmed Attack, +5 (DC 16), Wither Psyche (Blast 9) (DC Will 24) Defense: +12 (Flat-footed: +5), Knockback: -6 Initiative: +2 Languages: English Native Totals: Abilities 10 + Skills 23 (92 ranks) + Feats 13 + Powers 120 + Combat 28 + Saves 16 + Drawbacks 0 = 210 Age (as of Jan 2019): 20 (chronological), late teens (appearance) Height: 5’ 4” Weight: 120 lbs Ethnicity: African American Hair: Dark Brown Eyes: Dark Brown Theme Songs: [url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2i5Jp7mdMc]The Best Damn Thing, by Avril Lavigne[/url] & [url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIb6AZdTr-A]Girls Just Want To Have Fun, by Cyndi Lauper[/url] Background: This may sound familiar. Verity Campbell was an orphan taken in by the Catholic Church. Specifically, the Paladin Order. The fortunes of the order had, shall we say, declined since their heyday centuries prior. Between fallout from the Inquisition, the Protestant Reformation, and the Industrial Revolution gradually replacing the supernatural in people’s minds with the scientific, the Order’s numbers had dwindled. And in the small Maryland town of Americana, they were reduced to training a handful of orphans in how to battle the denizens of the night. Americana needed the help. There are places in the world where the dimensional walls are thin and things can slip through. Many of them are in Oceania, but not all. One in particular was in that small Maryland town. Plagued by vampires, demons, and wicked magicians seeking power, a squad of sword wielding teenage do gooders was nothing but a boon to the town. They may well have never left. Except in all placed in all of North America, a Demon Hunter awoke to their power there. Harry friggin’ Brandle. This was high school. Sophomore year. Tenth grade. Christine Gale was the undisputed queen bee of Americana High. She ruled the cliques with an iron fist. Inside a velvet glove, admittedly, but still. And Verity was her best friend and right hand. Harry Brandle only had his handful of dork ass loser friends. So by day Verity and Christine was his clear superior. By night, however, his Demon Hunter powers (basically absolute peak human abilities) left the unpowered human Paladins in the dust. And this was when he was a straight up rookie. When he started getting better and better, they simply couldn’t keep up with him anymore. Sophomore year things were fine. The Paladins and Harry’s litte band of dorks despised each other. The rivalry was both fierce and bitter. And then Christine started not taking Mother Superior’s word for things anymore. Thinking for herself, you know? So not Verity’s thing. But even she had to admit that he stories they’d been told about the horrible, wicked, evil Demon Hunters did not match the reality of Harry Brandle, selfless hero. The rivalry between the two groups continued, to be sure, but softened into something less bitter and more friendly. At least on Christine’s part. Verity still thought they were total losers, but you know best friend so whatever. Truthfully, though? Christine was the only one who still had the taste for training and going on heroing at night. The girls had had some injuries, you know? Plus it was cutting into school activities and hurting their grades. Verity didn’t really care about the grades part, but some of the girls did. So, by senior year Christine had mostly abandoned them, leaving Verity in charge. And without their guiding light, well…they didn’t really have much of a reason to train at all. Or not indulge in vices that Christine would have never allowed. Most of them were going to quit being Paladins after graduation anyway, you know? Like, they had bigger dreams than stabbing evil in the face for the rest of their lives. It wasn’t like Christine was totally gone from their lives, either. They had to make things look good for Mother Superior until after graduation, after all. Though…it was graduation day that kind of ruined everything. It’s a long story that involves another Demon Hunter named Joy Rodriguez. Basically the mayor of Americana had been gathering resources all year so he could sacrifice basically the entire town and apparently ascend to godhood? Verity wasn’t there, so she doesn’t know. The Paladins (sans Verity), having slacked off in their training for years now, were in no state to be of any real help with the problem. Christine wasn’t strong enough to handle it herself and protect them. So she teamed up with Harry and his group publically and openly for the first time. It worked. They saved the town. The mayor died. And the Paladin Order kicked her out for working with a Demon Hunter. No money. No job. No reason to stay in town. Lots of reasons to leave. One of them being that Verity was missing and presumed dead. In actuality, her particular vice/sin was lust, and an Asmodeus vampire had been exploiting that. The graduation day chaos got him destroyed, so nobody knew Verity was more than missing and presumed dead. They were waiting for her corpse to turn up, and, well, it certainly did do that. Verity Campbell, original version, was dead. An amnesiac demon possessed her corpse and reanimated it as a vampire. Of course, said demon has no way of knowing that they’ re not the original person. So she kept the name, and was (like all newborn vampires) not really all that different from said original. Aside from the usual vampire weaknesses (the sun, holy stuff, blood thirst, etc) and the lack of empathy, guilt, and remorse. Though the original Verity didn’t exactly have the latter qualities in abundance, so the difference was not as notable as it can be with some. Everybody just kind of assumed that she knew she wasn’t the original, as that Verity supposedly would have known that. Except she’d been totally faking her studies because they were so hard, okay? She fell into a messy romantic relationship with Chiaki Ayano, and tried to do some evil because “vampire now, that’s what they do right?” And bluntly she was terrible at it. Just really bad. Broke up with Chiaki, tried to do some independent evil, failed miserably at that, reconciled with Chiaki for about five minutes before breaking up with her again over the half demon’s love for Harry Brandle and finally leaving Americana. Verity went to Los Angeles to visit Christine. In fairness, she was a bit lost on what to do next. The only thing she’d ever been even semi-good at was Paladin’ing, and she couldn’t do that anymore because vampire. Christine, for her part, was thrilled to see her old friend alive and well. Until a call from Americana came in, informing Christine of Verity’s, well, not being alive-ness. It was Christine who informed the new Verity that she was, in fact, not the original. Much weeping ensued. Verity was more upset than Christine. Still, Verity hung around for a few days and tried to help Roth Investigations handle a case or two, but it went about as poorly as her attempts at evil did. Almost totally ineffective, and very much in the way. She wandered away, discouraged, and got wrapped up in another evil scheme. This prompted Christine and the rest of Roth to drive her away. They could (and arguably should) have destroyed her right then and there, but Christine didn’t have it in her to murder her best friend in cold blood, and the others had their hands full with the other vampires in the scheme. Verity wandered for a couple of years after that before joining the secretarial pool at a certain interdimensional law firm’s Los Angeles branch. She established herself as actually competent at this work before being plucked out to serve as Asteroth’s secretary, as Roth Investigations had taken over the law firm. She served ably in this role, gradually earning the vampire wizard’s respect. By May 19, 2006 she was practically a member of the team. Hadn’t killed any humans in years! Practically hero material. She didn’t betray them to the Council of The Forsaken on purpose. Really! They took advantage of her flaws as a person so she told them everything. Of course, Asteroth already knew this would happen, and told her only what he’d wanted them to know. And it turned out to be all wrong anyway. He wasn’t even mad! He wrote her this great recommendation letter, and gave her this cool ring that makes the sun not incinerate her. She didn’t feel bad about it, (because duh, vampire) but she did kinda want to make up for it. So she went and helped out Chiaki. For old times’ sake. And so, Verity parted ways with Roth Investigations. But not permanently, as it would turn out. But here’s the thing, see. Since Verity could walk in the daylight now, she got discovered. She did some modeling, parlayed that into acting, and by the time Lloyd Adams (oh, right he was there with Chiaki then, wasn’t he?) came looking for her in 2012 she’d just gotten her own TV series. Exciting! On one hand, she had absolutely no reason to help. Her career was just taking off, after all. But to tell the truth, it would be nice to meet old friends again. And to have some place where she could be her vampiric self. Obviously, nobody at the studio or the network knew about her undeadness, and neither did her costars. It was kind of lonely. Thralls made by her powers didn’t count. Those were only temporary, and only because she was hungry. Or needed something, like an medical excuse not to stand out in the sun all day when she wasn’t allowed to wear her special ring. Anyway, she joined up with the new Bloodfang Alpha. That first show only got a couple of seasons. Bummer. So she did a movie, and then her second series got greenlit. In Harm’s Way has her playing a sexy super spy. It’s very exciting! You should watch it. The network just ordered the third season. Verity’s unlife is going great. She’s really very happy with it. Powers & Tactics: Verity is an Asmodeus bloodline vampire, similar to Photophobia. Upon rising back in 1999, she received a boost to their physical attractiveness and overall charisma, and an alternate method of satisfying the blood craving. A type of substance or energy that they then have a certain level of magical control over. Thermovores, electrivores, and psychevores are the most common. There are, however, reports of vampires who can “eat” water, air, rock/soil, and in one terrifying case, time itself. Verity is the “most common” category. She is a psychevore. In addition to blood, she can consume psyches. It is important to note that a psyche is not the same thing as a mind or intellect. A better word is perhaps personality. She can reach out with her mind and take bites out of another being’s personality and charisma. The most she eats, the duller and blander they get, until they fall into a coma. This eating can technically kill, but it’d take an additional feeding after they’re in a coma. And well, they’re not very tasty by that point, says Verity. So she’s never killed anyone that way. She boosts her own psyche with the stolen energy from others until it fades and she must eat more. So, with psyches not being the same as minds or intellects, what Verity does isn’t mind control or telepathy. It’s empathy and emotion control. She can dig deep into psyches, reading emotions the owner of said psyche may not be consciously aware of. She can implant any emotion she chooses into any psyche, allowing her to play people like fiddles. And, of course, she can simply overload a target’s psyche, potentially causing severe damage to their mind as a whole. This is something she’s killed with. All of these, including her psyche consumption, grow more frightening when it is known that she can use them on any target she sees without giving any chance to evade them, and they are impossible to detect her doing without special sensory powers. And even then the target of said powers remains clueless until it is far too late. All this and she’s still a vampire. Immune to all mortal concerns, with near superhuman resilience and rapid physical regeneration when she’s consumed blood or psyches. She’ll even “resurrect” if damaged too much to continue functioning (actually destroying her permanently requires either a wooden stake through her heart while "dead" or a beheading). She’s got the nose of a bloodhound, and darkness is no impediment to her vision. As for Equipment, she carries a Masterwork Sword and a Collapsible Baton. The original Verity was a pretty decent fighter, and the current Verity has inherited those skills. She’s better with the sword, but the baton is more easily hidden. Both are in case someone is either immune/resistant to her powers or using them on said person is a bad idea. Needless to say, this was Lloyd’s idea and not hers. Haha. Tactically, the most important thing to remember is that Verity is both kind of a coward and hopeless at proper combat tactics. She does a lot more for the team with her social skills, Psyche Control, and Psyche Reading outside of combat than with anything else inside of it. She is not by any stretch of the imagination a badass fighter. With. That. Said. Wither Psyche is a nasty attack that will likely go unnoticed by both the target and their allies until said target collapses. Same deal with Psychevore. And again she’s decent with her sword. Her high Bluff lets her Feint quite well, and she has Improved Taunt to reduce chances of saving against her attacks. Set Up lets her transfer either (or both, to make her more dangerous) to a harder hitting teammate. Like Lloyd. Or Alejo. Being a millionaire along with Connected and Contacts are other ways in which she helps the team outside of combat. She can absolutely power stunt, but unfortunately is generally too much of a dumbass to even think of it. So she doesn’t have the faintest idea of what she would even stunt. Personality: Verity is, charitably speaking, an idiot. Perky and cheerful, but completely and utterly self absorbed. A vapid, shallow creature. Yet one not entirely devoid of self awareness. With the memories of an almost fully trained Paladin, there’s nothing at all wrong with her moral compass. The living version of her would have likely never been anything more than a petty, narcissistic bully. The vampire version, of course, is capable of more. But not as much as one would automatically think of with demonic instincts in play. This is where that self awareness comes in. She has been around long enough to know how to play to her strengths, which do not include planning, figuring things out, or generating innovative/devious/cunning ideas. Bluntly, she’s a follower. Not a leader. She’s good at following instructions, flattery, and smooth talking people. On her own, she’s kind of bad at everything. Teamed up with more capable people, she can be pretty dang awesome. So she’s got a hell of a knack for survival. Cling on to the right folks, and you too can coast on the little you’re good at while the competent people handle everything else. Like, it does suck (haha, vampire puns) that she’s not good at most things. But the goal of life (or unlife in her case) is to be happy, right? So duh, of course she’s not killing everyone around her. She needs them alive. And when bodies turn up, the cops and monster hunters get involved, and ugh. Skip, please. Behaving was getting to be kind of a pain. The demon part of her psyche wanted blood and pain, not brunches and pedicures. So it’s good that Lloyd showed up. She can get her aggression out without compromising her current life. It’s a win-win for everyone! With that said, she does have all of the original Verity’s memories. Including her dying. She was knowledgeable enough to know how she’d been tricked and why she was dying. The last desperate and regretful prayers of a dying teenager are engraved in the current Verity’s memories. Since that teenager died and was not able to grow past it, the current Verity shares her big character flaw. The sin of lust isn’t merely sexual matters. The original Verity Campbell was an orphan trained to be a warrior of light by strict priests and nuns. Her training included a lot more correction and criticism than praise and affection. So of course all she really wanted was someone to love and be proud of her. And it is so very easy for a teenager of any gender to confuse physical affection with something deeper. However, what she got was tricked and murdered, with a demon possessing her corpse and immortalizing that character flaw forever. This is the other reason why the current Verity has both joined and stuck with Bloodfang Alpha. They make her feel useful. Valued. Respected. Loved. It’s also the other reason why she sticks with the “no killing humans” rule. Though to be clear, Verity doesn’t quite have the self awareness to know this about herself. She is, after all, quite shallow and self absorbed. Most of the time.

Herald (Alejo Escarra) Power Level: 11; Power Points Spent: 225/225 STR: +5 (20), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +5 (20), INT: +3 (16), WIS: +5 (20), CHA: +3 (16) Tough: +5/+10, Fort: +9, Ref: +12, Will: +9 Skills: Acrobatics 7 (+10), Diplomacy 7 (+10), Disable Device 12 (+15), Gather Information 7 (+10), Intimidate 12 (+15), Knowledge (arcane Lore) 2 (+5), Knowledge (theology & philosophy) 2 (+5), Language 1 (+1), Notice 5 (+10), Sense Motive 5 (+10) Feats: Accurate Attack, Attack Focus (melee) 4, Challenge - Improved Demoralize, Challenge - Improved Startle, Dodge Focus 5, Improved Critical 2 (Summoned Scythe (Strike 5)), Improved Initiative, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Startle, Takedown Attack 2, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: Dullahan Magic (Array 13) (default power: - multiple powers -) All Doors & Locks Open (Move Object 11) (Alternate; Strength: 55, Carry: 8.5 tons / 17.1 tons / 25.6 tons / 51.2 tons; Range (perception); Limited Material (Doors & Locks); Precise, Subtle (subtle)) Rapid Unlocking (Quickness 6) (Alternate; Perform routine tasks at 100x speed; One Task (Opening Locks)) Soul Reaper (Super-Movement 10) (Array; dimensional: Appropriate Afterlife 1 (one dimension), extra ranks 9, DC 20; Attack (Reflex), Secondary Effect; Limited (to Ghosts/Souls)) Unseelie Teleportation (Teleport 7) (Array; 700 ft. as move action, 200 miles as full action; Accurate; Change Direction, Change Velocity, Easy, Subtle (subtle), Turnabout) Word of Death (Drain (Array; drains: single trait - con, DC 18; Range 2 (perception); Subtle 2 (unnoticable)) Dullhan Physiology (Container, Passive 11) Dulla-cycle Speed (Speed 5) (Speed: 250 mph, 2200 ft./rnd) Dulla-cycle Wall & Water Run (Super-Movement 3) (wall-crawling 2 (full speed), water walking) Inhuman Might (Super-Strength 5) (+25 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 6.4 tons; +5 STR to some checks) Inhuman Resilience (Protection 5) (+5 Toughness; Impervious [5 extra ranks]) Pseudo Undead (Immunity 11) (aging, life support, starvation & thirst) Summoned Scythe (Strike 5) (DC 25, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Summoned Scythe (Strike 5)); Mighty) Head (Device 2) (Hard to lose, Only you can use; Subtle 2 (unnoticable)) Inhuman Senses (Super-Senses 10) (awareness: Lifespan (visual), counters concealment: Visual, counters illusion: Visual, counters obscure (all): Visual) Attack Bonus: +8 (Ranged: +8, Melee: +12, Grapple: +17/+22) Attacks: Soul Reaper (Super-Movement 10), +12 (DC Ref 20), Summoned Scythe (Strike 5), +12 (DC 25), Unarmed Attack, +12 (DC 20), Word of Death (Drain (DC Fort/Staged 18) Defense: +12 (Flat-footed: +4), Knockback: -10 Initiative: +7 Languages: English Native, Spanish Totals: Abilities 48 + Skills 15 (60 ranks) + Feats 19 + Powers 96 + Combat 30 + Saves 17 + Drawbacks 0 = 225 Age (as of Jan 2019): Height: 5’ 9” Weight: 175 lbs Ethnicity: ½ Mexican, ½ Irish Hair: Brown Eyes: Dark Brown Theme Song: [url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk3ZJslK2ks]Durarara opening 1[/url] Background: There are many misconceptions about dullahan. The first is that they’re actually evil. They’re not. They’re not any more evil than the Angel of Death, a Norse valkyrie, or a Japanese shinigami. They’re just psychopomps, shepherding the dead to the afterlife. Lots of beings doing that job. The second is that they’re vicious undead fiends from hell or something equally terrifying. The only part of that which is even close to right is the undead part. They’re Unseelie Fae. Winter Court. And individuals are as varied as any other type of being. None of them should be trusted for a moment because they’re Fae and Winter at that. But in the end they’re just doing their job of collecting souls and shoving them off to the afterlife. Sometimes this does manifest as killing the person personally, rather than just showing up immediately after the death. Don’t make deals with the Fae, kids. And if you do, honor them to the best of your ability. Additionally, don’t make Winter as a whole your enemy. Not a smart decision. Everything else folklore says about dullahan is more or less accurate, even it may be exaggerated by terrified and/or drunk people. Who only had torches, moonlight, or scant flashes of lightning to see with. What does this have to do with Alejo Escarra? It’s quite simple, really. His father was a dullahan. It’s how the dulla clans procreate. Female dullahan are rare, so the males have to go out and reproduce with a human if they want children of their own. To be fair, Alejo’s father hasn’t been the most involved in his life. The life of a dullahan can be a busy one. He was born in 1929, shortly before Black Tuesday. This did not help. Not at all. Rough life, growing up during the Depression, firmly ensconced in New York City while Mexican. His powers came in during his teen years, and he started doing what’s basically been his primary job ever since. Freelance courier and bodyguard. He was too young to be drafted into World War 2, and by Korea he had no fixed address. He did send his mother postcards and visited sometimes. In ’63, the Treaty of Havana made it impossible for him to be drafted to Vietnam even if he was (by the calendar) too old now. His mother was quite young when he was born, but after a while she got frailer and frailer as older people do. She moved to Los Angeles for better weather, and he started working exclusively in Southern California to be closer to her. The whole reason for entering the exclusive employment of a certain interdimensional law firm’s Los Angeles branch was that they promised to help pay for her care. They held up their end. He held up his. Courier and bodyguard. Granted, the latter was to Bloodfang units (and eventually Alpha), but whatever. He’d killed people before. Souls were among the items he couriered. He was a dullahan scion, after all. His mother’s strength gave out at long last, and she died in 2003 at over 100 years of age. The following year was when Roth took over the Los Angeles office. Quitting Bloodfang Alpha was, uh, probably not something he could survive doing. He’d been on a few…loose end clean up missions. With that said, new boss Asteroth and his crew made some of the more dangerous and evil members disappear. Brought in a couple of their own. When the hammer fell on May 19, 2006, it was his chance to finally get out. So hell yes, he turned coat, helped Chiaki, Lloyd, and Heidi. Then with the job done, he lit out for the open road. He was the hardest one to find when Lloyd was trying to get the new and improved version of Bloodfang Alpha together. Heidi, Verity, and Seth were all in the greater Los Angeles area. Alejo…was a bit further away, and mobile besides. He’d returned to his roots. Freelance courier and bodyguard. At the meeting of all five, he told Lloyd he didn’t work for free and was about to leave when Verity piped up that she had plenty of money. And that kind of solved that. He’ll admit to being a little more attached to these folks than the original Bloodfang crew, but honestly? He’s only got another decade to be anything resembling a human. Dullahan scions get a century to themselves before they become truly Fae and take their place among the dulla clans. Everything up until then is just marking time. Powers & Tactics: Alejo is half dullahan. A dullahan scion, if you will. As stated above, dullahans are Winter Court fae. So all of his powers are magical (specifically Fae magic). As he’s still part human, him and his powers lack the vulnerability to cold iron (and iron/steel in general) that they and theirs do. With that said, the Fae part grants him several abilities in addition to some unique magic and what’s only a device in the most technical sense. His relatively unique physiology makes him stronger than humans, with a maximum carrying capacity of 12.8 tons. He does not age. He does not need to breathe, eat, or drink though he may do so as he wishes. Mundane diseases and poisons have no effect, and he is immune to all environmental concerns as well. His resilience is superhuman, with the ability to ignore even artillery fire. But the abilities he and all dullahan are best known for are the “dullacycle” and their scythes. The “dulla-cycle” is not a real motorcycle. It is a summoned magical familiar that, before the age of the automobile, was most often a horse. It’s a shade faster than most motorcycles and can roll up walls or over water with no problem at all. For the record, he can manifest a hooked up “carriage” to it. It’s not any different than carrying it on his back. The weight limit still applies. Though in this case it’d be less a horse drawn carriage and more like a sidecar and/or a special trailer. The scythe is also summoned out of effortless innate magic. Disarming him is pointless, as it can be in his hands in an instant. It’s more powerful than mundane scythes and is, of course, a weapon and not a farming implement. To be clear, human bone isn’t sturdy enough to use as a weapon over metal. And why enchant bone when metal is just as easy? So no, dullahans don’t typically use whips made of human spines. That’s unnecessarily gruesome. What the hell. Though to be fair there are dullahans whose tastes lean towards the gruesome and macrabre, so maybe don’t rule it out entirely. His dullahan magic is relatively unique. With a quiet word he can cause someone to lose vitality and even drop dead. He can teleport 700 feet or 200 miles at a time. He can send any ghost or soul to the appropriate afterlife with a touch. Whether they want to go or not. The remaining common option is, uh. Dullahans have a thing where no door or lock can bar their way. He’s only a scion, so he’s not quite as good at it as a full dullahan would be. However, he can rapidly unlock some of the toughest locks in all the land, and open some of the heaviest doors with nothing more than a small effort of will. In the event that his unlocking skills aren’t good enough, this power is probably strong enough to rip most doors clean out of the frame/wall. His device that is only a device in the most technical sense is his head. Dullahans are perhaps best known for their ability to remove their heads without losing any functionality, let alone dying. Alejo isn’t quite that good. While he won’t die if he loses his head, he certainly won’t be able to use it to see, smell, taste, and hear. The first of which actually comes with some powers. His vision cannot be blocked or deceived by any known method, and he can see how much longer someone’s lifespan is. This isn’t precisely when they’re going to die. It’s more of a bodily expiration date. Not everyone reaches it due to accidents and deliberate violence. It can also be reduced by a poor diet, diseases, and injuries, or increased by medical care, changing to a healthier diet, and frequent exercise if the person isn’t already doing so. Since it is, after all, his literal head, identifying it as removable in the first place is quite difficult. And obviously only he can use it. It’s literally his head. Again, he’s a scion. Not a full dullahan. So it’s just a regular human head. The flesh is not the color and consistency of moldy cheese. That’s horrific. And that only happens with dullahans who don’t take proper care of their heads. Keeping them clean. Wearing them sometimes. Etcetera. Tactically, Alejo is normally a dude with a motorcycle and a scythe that he chops foes down with. Neither of which can be destroyed or taken from him. Walls and water are no obstacle. Very few doors can bar his way. Gaps he can’t go around can be crossed with Unseelie Teleportation or outright ignored with Word of Death. There’s very little way to either escape him or prevent him from escaping. Soul Reaper is extremely situational, but highly effective when it is needed. He can use Improved Demoralize and Improved Startle to make his foes lives unfun. Accurate and Power Attack are available at need. Move by Action keeps him mobile. And Takedown Attack 2 lets him whip his scythe through minion after minion like it’s going out of style. He’s technically capable of power stunting, but he’s never had to. He has no idea what he’d even stunt, you know? Perhaps Emotion Control Limited to Fear? Being Winter Court, maybe something Cold Control related? Honestly he has no idea. Personality: Alejo is not a hero. He’s not a villain either. He could not possibly care any less about the good versus evil axis. He’s just a man doing a job. Sometimes the job means killing. Sometimes it means running. World’s messy. Attaching a moral value to everything a person does is just going to drive them crazy orr get them killed. He’ll skip all that drama, thanks much. He keeps his life simple. He gets paid to deliver something, he delivers it. He gets paid to protect someone, he does the best one dullahan can to do that. He has no special feelings about it one way or the other. The only thing he wants to be able to enjoy his freedom while it lasts. That takes money and refusing to adhere to any pesky ideologies that might restrict it. Though to be honesty, his life is an extremely lonely one. He knows what Verity is, but she’s nice to him. Heidi is friendly, too, and Seth is nice enough. Lloyd keeps that wall up between him and other people at all times. How to put it? His heart isn’t made of stone. There are some things he won’t tolerate happening in his presence. His loyalty is not and never has been for sale. There’s practical rules to the game that only a fool breaks. It brings the hero types running. But being too much of a saint can cut the money flow off real easy, and make a person a legion of enemies. It is what it is. To put it more simply, his image is that of a badass loner who rides a cool motorcycle, uses a cool and unusual weapon, wears a leather jacket, and smokes casually. A guy with just enough honor, integrity, and common decency to not kick any dogs, metaphorically speaking, or step over any moral event horizons. And turn fast on anyone who does either. Just the coolest guy imaginable. Behind that image, though? He has nothing. Little money. Few possessions. No personal relationships that go beyond professional niceties. No friends. No family. Nothing, and no one. The plan was to quietly disappear into the Winter Court and the dulla clans, unnoticed, unmissed, and unmourned. These past seven years, it has gotten more and more difficult to pretend he doesn’t give a damn. To pretend that a part of him isn’t very lonely and very scared. He doesn’t know how the dulla clans take the “scion” out of “dullahan scion”, but it’ll strip him entirely of any trace of humanity. Seth, the damn fool kid, looks up to him. Verity depends on him. Heidi clearly considers him a a friend. And in ten years he’s going to simply go away. He cannot conceive of a future where he stays instead.

Ashfang (Heidi Roberts) Power Level: 11; Power Points Spent: 240/240 STR: +7 (14/24), DEX: +7 (14/24), CON: +7 (14/24), INT: +2 (14), WIS: +3 (16), CHA: +3 (16) Tough: +8, Fort: +10, Ref: +12/+14, Will: +9 Skills: Acrobatics 8 (+15), Bluff 7 (+10), Craft (artistic) 8 (+10), Diplomacy 7 (+10), Gather Information 7 (+10), Intimidate 12 (+15), Knowledge (arcane Lore) 3 (+5), Knowledge (art) 8 (+10), Knowledge (theology & philosophy) 3 (+5), Language 2 (+2), Notice 12 (+15), Search 3 (+5), Sense Motive 12 (+15), Stealth 8 (+15), Survival 12 (+15) Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, All-Out Attack, Attack Focus (melee) 5, Challenge - Improved Demoralize, Challenge - Improved Startle, Defensive Attack, Distract (Intimidate), Dodge Focus, Evasion, Improved Critical (Claws & Fangs (Strike 1)), Improved Initiative, Improved Throw, Improved Trip, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Skill Mastery (Intimidate, Notice, Stealth, Survival), Startle, Takedown Attack 2, Uncanny Dodge (Olfactory) Powers: Shifter's Regeneration (Regeneration 25) (recovery bonus 2 (+2 to recover), recovery rate (bruised) 3 (recover 1 / round without rest), recovery rate (disabled) 8 (recover 1 / round without rest), recovery rate (injured) 6 (recover 1 / round without rest), recovery rate (staggered) 6 (recover 1 / round without rest); Persistent, Regrowth) Werewolf Shift (Alternate Form 16) (Duration (continuous)) Wolfing Out (Alternate Form) (Powers: Claws & Fangs (Strike 1), Lupine Leapeaing (Leaping 3), Lupine Resilience (Protection 1), Lupine Senses (Super-Senses 14), Lupine Speed (Speed 3), Strength +10 (24, +7), Dexterity +10 (24, +7), Constitution +10 (24, +7), Attack Bonus +4 (+9), Defense Bonus +4 (+14), Reflex +2 (+14)) Claws & Fangs (Strike 1) (DC 23, Feats: Improved Critical (Claws & Fangs (Strike 1)); Mighty) Lupine Leapeaing (Leaping 3) (Jumping distance: x10) Lupine Resilience (Protection 1) (+1 Toughness; Impervious [7 extra ranks]) Lupine Senses (Super-Senses 14) (accurate (type): Olfactory, acute (type): Auditory, extended (type): Auditory 1 (-1 per 100 ft), extended (type): Olfactory 1 (-1 per 100 ft), low-light vision, tracking: Olfactory 2 (normal speed), ultra-hearing) Lupine Speed (Speed 3) (Speed: 50 mph, 440 ft./rnd) Power Settings: Wolfing Out (Alternate Form) (Powers: Claws & Fangs (Strike 1), Lupine Leapeaing (Leaping 3), Lupine Resilience (Protection 1), Lupine Senses (Super-Senses 14), Lupine Speed (Speed 3), Strength +10 (24, +7), Dexterity +10 (24, +7), Constitution +10 (24, +7), Attack Bonus +4 (+9), Defense Bonus +4 (+14), Reflex +2 (+14)) Attack Bonus: +5/+9 (Ranged: +5/+9, Melee: +10/+14, Grapple: +17/+21) Attacks: Claws & Fangs (Strike 1), +14 (DC 23), Unarmed Attack, +14 (DC 22) Defense: +10/+14 (Flat-footed: +7), Knockback: -8 Initiative: +11 Drawbacks: Vulnerable, common, major, Silver Languages: English Native, French, Spanish Totals: Abilities 28 + Skills 28 (112 ranks) + Feats 23 + Powers 123 + Combat 28 + Saves 14 - Drawbacks 4 = 240 Age (as of Jan 2019): 42 Height: 5’ 6” Weight: 130 lbs Ethnicity: Caucasian Hair: Blonde Eyes: Blue Theme Song: [url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3ExpzDitTQ]Taking Over, by Divide Music[/url] Background: Heidi Roberts was an ordinary art student at USC once. She had ordinary worries. Keeping her grades up. Doing projects. What parties should she go to? Babysitting her sister’s daughter from time to time. Working part time. She was nobody. Then, late one night, she was on her way home from an on campus studio space when she was violently assaulted by something large, clawed, and furry. She received a few ugly scratches and bites before Asteroth (of all beings) grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and threw it in a high ballistic arc that terminated (eventually) over a hundred miles out in the Pacific Ocean. Heidi fled, and Asteroth let her. He wasn’t concerned with her. Mr. Large, Clawed, and Furry (prior to his long flight and sudden smashing stop, as from that high up the ocean is no softer than concrete thanks to surface tension) was a werewolf and a member of Bloodfang Alpha. Not the current semi-heroic group, but the prior private murder squad. Difficult to prove he’d removed a troublesome member of the unit if he’d 1) wasn’t a corpse to examine and 2) hasn’t used any magic. The only thing Asteroth did for Heidi that night was make sure she received medical attention. She shouldn’t pay with her life because he was seconds later than expected. And indeed, she did not. That night. Wereanimals, or therianthropes, have previously been discussed in Felin-garou’s entry. Her type is by far the most common. Willingly chosen, more or less. There are, however, those who are genuinely cursed to become a beast (whether they want to or not) at every full moon. Naturally, they don’t infect everyone they bite or claw with their curse. The world would have become overrun with them a long time ago. It’s like any other source of mutation. For most people it simply doesn’t work. Heidi, of course, knew none of this. The only thing she knew is that her wounds from the attack were healing with startling rapidity. But perhaps she hadn’t been hurt as badly as she thought? Eh, she had a niece to babysit. Worry about it later. “Later” proved to be that night while her sister was at work. Mr. Large, Clawed, and Furry had attacked her because it has been, in fact, the first night of the full moon and he did not deign to even attempt to control himself on those nights. So Heidi almost attacked her niece. The only thing that stopped her was the sudden appearance of Asteroth. The vampire wizard had been chewed out by Nyoan Ayano for not doing his due diligence and being sure that the woman he’d saved wasn’t on the short list of bloodlines that the curse could potentially affect. So he showed up in the nick of time like a conquering hero. It was easy enough to subdue her and bring both her and her niece back to the office. He even covered for her with her sister. Heidi basically became an employee of Roth Investigations out of sheer necessity. Asteroth taught her how to control her abilities personally, as he knew how it was done. He could easily handle her if she lost control and if she did manage to harm him he’d heal from it very quickly. She slid into the original Bloodfang Alpha as a replacement member, and she participated in its destruction, following the lead of Lloyd Adams, who she’d come to trust. But of course, after that both Bloodfang and Roth shattered apart, and she was free to do as she wished. Aside from a few nights each month when her transformation became involuntary and the inner beast much more difficult to control. Freelance artist is decidedl not a well paying job, but regardless she was living her dream. This status quo lasted the six years until 2012, when Lloyd Adams (freshly sanctified) came looking for her as his first pick to form a new Bloodfang Alpha. The pay isn’t as good, working for Roth, as it was last time, but it also doesn’t take up the time needed for whatever art work gets thrown her way. She thinks she ought to be more horrified by some o the things she’s seen and had to combat, but the inner beast appears to tank some of that for her. It’s not an easy thing, dealing with the savage part of her nature, but she’s doing the best she can. Powers & Tactics: Heidi is infected with a bloodline curse. One of her ancestors, several centuries ago, pissed off a powerful wizard, and here we are. She is, more or less, a classic Hollywood werewolf. Cursed to become a monstrous humanoid wolf during the three days of the full moon every month. Her claws and fangs can spread the curse to survivors of her attacks. So far, so traditional. Here things take a left turn, however. At any other tie than the three nights of the full moon, she can transform or not as she prefers. And she can only infect other members of that long since scattered bloodline. The curse part comes in with the inner beast. Hunt. Maul. Kill. Eat. It is not sentient or even really a separate being. It is the desires and instincts of the most savage and bloodthirsty of wolves grafted onto her mind. And it is never entirely quiet. It gets louder when she’s angry, scared, hungry, injured, or something similar. Transformed or not, she can recover from even the most devastating injuries in scant seconds. Her transformation makes her grow a foot and put on a hundred pounds of mostly muscle. Her strength bolts up to the human maximum. Her resilience is actually a touch higher, and actually accelerates her regeneration to the degree that even some artillery fire and all man portable mundane firearms can be effectively ignored. Her claws and fangs augment the damage caused by her physical strength. She can run at 50 MPH and leap anywhere from a few dozen to over 150 feet. Her senses are second only to Asteroth vampires. She needs less light to see than humans. She can hear almost all frequencies of sound from hundreds of feet away. She has the nose of a bloodhound, capable of tracking scents from the same hundreds of feet away. She can even use her hearing to target her attacks, effectively having sonar. She does have a major weakness, however. Silver weapons can really, genuinely hurt her very badly. Contrary to legend, her regeneration does work on those injuries. It’s simply that she can take far more damage from them and thus have far more to regenerate than from any other source. Tactically, Heidi is just a melee fighter with her claws and fangs. Her mobility, however, should not be ignored. She can run at 50 MPH and leap 42 feet straight up. She can get around when she needs to, and that’s a fact. Her senses are also not to be underestimated. She can hear and smell hundreds of feet away from her current location. She’s both difficult to hide from and difficult to escape. She has Improved Demoralize and Startle, plus regular Acrobatic Bluff just in case. She has All Out, Defensive, and Power Attack on tap for use as needed. Distract (Intimidate) is a nice little team support thing. Improved Throw and Improved Trip are in the same vein. Move by Action keeps her mobile, and Takedown Attack 2 lets her mow through minions. Do not ignore her Stealth or Survival skills. She’s the best tracker on the team and can fade in the shadows at a moment’s notice. She is incapable of power stunting. Personality: Before her infection by the curst, Heidi was one of those nice people one can find anywhere. She didn’t go out of her way, necessarily, but if a friend or family member needed help, she would do what she could without any thought as to reward or recognition. It’s just what you do, you know? She never thought she’d be anything else other than a freelance artist. It’s what she was going to school for. But life takes funny turns sometimes, and she’s been forced to grow beyond such mundane aspirations. Not abandon them, simply become more than that. And somehow, less. This particular werewolf curse is passed through bloodlines. Whether the person doing the infecting is doing it by being one of the parents or clawing and biting is immaterial. So, any children Heidi might have would be subject to uncontrollably transforming under the full moon and possess their own inner beast. She refused to subject anyone else (let alone a child) to what she’s had to go through. Part of her dreams included a husband and children, so this has been especially harsh. She doesn’t think any ordinary guy could possibly understand what it’s like to have an inner beast in the way that she does. To be fair, she’s probably right. However, there are plenty of not so ordinary guys covered by this blanket ruling it all out. Moreover, it’s difficult dealing with that inner beast. It’s there all the time. Hungry. Angry. Willing to solve all of her problems with maximum violence. It’s not sentient. It’s not a voice whispering into her ear, telling her to do evil things. Hell, it’s got no conception of morality to begin with. It’s just a whole mess of instincts that aren’t hers but press on her anyway. Hunt. Maul. Kill. Eat. And giving any ground to it only makes it stronger until she forces it back into its corner of her psyche. It’s strongest of all during the three days per month where the moon is fullest. Being this type of werewolf is extremely isolating, unless one gives in and becomes little more than an animal. Heidi refuses, and with Bloodfang Alpha does what she can to help others. All the while being keenly aware that eventually she’s simply not going to be strong enough anymore. Resisting the inner beast is exhausting, and giving in to it feel so very good. But she’s not that tired. Not yet. Fortunately, there is one thing that tames the beast. The same thing that always has, since time immemorial. Love. She remains quite close with her sister and niece.

Priest (Lloyd Adams) Power Level: 12; Power Points Spent: 300/300 STR: +10 (12/30), DEX: +5 (20), CON: +0 (-), INT: +2 (14), WIS: +5 (20), CHA: +5 (20) Tough: +0/+9, Fort: Immune, Ref: +12/+15, Will: +12 Skills: Acrobatics 10 (+15), Bluff 10 (+15), Diplomacy 10 (+15), Gather Information 10 (+15), Intimidate 10 (+15), Knowledge (arcane Lore) 8 (+10), Knowledge (history) 8 (+10), Knowledge (streetwise) 3 (+5), Knowledge (theology & philosophy) 13 (+15), Notice 10 (+15), Search 3 (+5), Sense Motive 10 (+15), Stealth 10 (+15), Survival 5 (+10) Feats: Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Attack Specialization 2 (Unarmed Attack), Challenge - Improved Demoralize, Challenge - Improved Feint, Challenge - Improved Startle, Defensive Attack, Dodge Focus 3, Elusive Target, Evasion, Improved Critical 2 (Sword Strike (Strike 4)), Improved Initiative 3, Interpose, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Skill Mastery 2 (Acrobatics, Bluff, Gather Info, Intimidate, KN (theo & philo), Notice, Sense Motive, Startle, Takedown Attack 2, Ultimate Effort (Will saves), Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: Blessed Steel Sword (Device 3) (Easy to lose) Sword Strike (Strike 4) (DC 29, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Sword Strike (Strike 4)); Penetrating [3 extra ranks]; Mighty, Precise) Omniglot (Comprehend 3) (languages - read all, languages - speak all, languages - understand all) Sanctified Vampire (Container, Passive 32) Blood Gift (Healing 6) (DC 16; Action (standard); Limited to Others, Side-Effect 2 (always - Damage)) Sanctified Regeneration (Regeneration 29) (recovery bonus 14 (+14 to recover), recovery rate (disabled) 8 (recover 1 / round without rest), recovery rate (injured) 6 (recover 1 / round without rest), resurrection 1 (1 week); Persistent, Regrowth) Undead (Immunity 30) (fortitude saves) Vampiric Leaping (Leaping 6) (Jumping distance: x100) Vampiric Might (Super-Strength 9) (+45 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 409.6 tons; +9 STR to some checks) Vampiric Quickness (Quickness 6) (Perform routine tasks at 100x speed) Vampiric Reflexes (Enhanced Trait 18) (Traits: Attack Bonus +3 (+10), Defense Bonus +3 (+15), Reflex +3 (+15), Feats: Improved Initiative 3) Vampiric Resilience (Protection 9) (+9 Toughness) Vampiric Senses (Super-Senses 15) (darkvision, extended (type): Visual 2 (-1 per 1k ft), extended (type): Olfactory 1 (-1 per 100 ft), extended (type): Auditory 1 (-1 per 100 ft), infravision, tracking: Olfactory 3 (all-out), ultra-hearing) Vampiric Speed (Speed 6) (Speed: 500 mph, 4400 ft./rnd) Vampiric Strength (Enhanced Strength 18) (+18 STR) Attack Bonus: +7/+10 (Ranged: +7/+10, Melee: +7/+10, Grapple: +17/+29) Attacks: Sword Strike (Strike 4), +10 (DC 29), Unarmed Attack, +14 (DC 25) Defense: +12/+15 (Flat-footed: +6), Knockback: -4 Initiative: +17 Languages: English Native Totals: Abilities 26 + Skills 30 (120 ranks) + Feats 23 + Powers 175 + Combat 32 + Saves 14 + Drawbacks 0 = 300 Age (as of Jan 2019): 527 (chronological), early 20s (appearance) Height: 5’ 7” Weight: 145 lbs Ethnicity: Caucasian Hair: Platinum Blonde Eyes: Blue Theme Songs: [url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5mlWLVrvBQ]The Night, by Divide Music[/url] & [url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaOb9Bai-Lg]Don’t Lose Faith, by McGwire and Wulf Boi[/url] Background: In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. A simple rhyme schoolchildren learn. However, something else happened that year. A small monastery in the north of England was destroyed. Burned to the ground and all the monks slaughtered. The perpetrators? Asteroth and the still living Dhana. The most outwardly faithful of the monks they were the cruelest to, and ultimately Asteroth sired him and left him in the ruins of the monastery. This young man was named neither Lloyd nor Adams. These were names the new being took for himself, as vampires are an amnesiac demon possessing a corpse and not the actual person. With that said, they have all of that person’s memories and are virtually always fooled into thinking they are the newly deceased person. Lloyd was one of the few who picked up on it from almost the start. That young man would have waited or the sun to incinerate him rather than sink his fangs into the first person he could get his hands on. Or so Lloyd told himself at the time. The first years of an Asteroth bloodline vampire are…difficult. The thirst can be overwhelming. Most feed multiple times a day. It is also when they are at their physical weakest, being weaker than a well trained human soldier. Lloyd does not like to remember the things that he did in those days. It is not regret. He is incapable of that. The temptation of returning to the mentality of those days was very strong, and thinking of them only made it worse. But Lloyd was special. It can take up to a decade for an Asteroth bloodline vampire to get control over their thirst to the degree that they can function in society again, as much as a soulless bloodsucking monster ever can. Lloyd did it in three years. By 1500 he was already traveling in his guise as an iterant Catholic priest, doing his best to battle vampires, demons, and other things that preyed on humans. He always had to move on with a decent amount of speed. Dead forest animals and/or livestock with the blood drained out of them did not necessarily bring the vampire hunters running in the same way that human bodies would, but it would lead to confrontations he would rather avoid. Lloyd Adams, the mysterious Priest, walked the shadows of Europe and eventually Africa and Asia. There are a million stories he could tell. Demon Hunters. Wizards of the White Court. The Catholic Church’s Paladin Order. The Devil Hunter Society. Even ordinary monster hunters and heroes. Allies. Even friends. Battles waged under cover of darkness. Great successes. Terrible failures. His oath to never again drink human blood put to the test on an uncountable number of occasions. He has existed for over 500 years, after all, and has spent all but the first few years of that trying to help people where he could. His existence was considered blasphemy on both good and evil sides. A vampire without a soul choosing to do good? Most on the side of good would never believe it and consider it nothing more than a trick or a scheme. Most on the side of evil would want to utterly destroy him for his treason. He survived them all. He endured whatever was thrown at him. And his selflessness brought him those allies and friends. But of course, he is immortal. And they never were. 1917. Despite Asteroth massacring all of his vampiric bloodline he could find that summer, he spared Lloyd. He had not seen Asteroth since 1492, and that wasn’t technically Lloyd who did. It was an interesting meeting, to be sure, and decades later when the vampire wizard went to Los Angeles, the first being he got in touch with was Lloyd. An independent agent out in the world was of use to Asteroth, and honestly as long as he didn’t ask Lloyd do something against his personal code there was no problem. As such, pseudo infiltrating the original Bloodfang Alpha was no problem. They were quite awful, and mostly didn’t notice that he, well, wasn’t. It suited him just fine when Chiaki showed up and started taking the leadership apart. So he pitched in. This, of course, left him without a steady gig again. Returning him to his status quo of traveling and battling the forces of darkness, as it were. Because that’s what he’d been doing for over 500 years. Without a thought as to reward, recognition, or glory. Simply fulfilling what he ardently believed was the purpose of his existence. How many times did he have to hide what he was so that he could continue his work? How many times did that fail and he has to flee from those who had called him friend hours prior? His quest was not hopeless, for it had no end goal to achieve. He’d simply go on until something finally managed to destroy him or the world ended. And then, in 2012, on the 520th anniversary of the day he rose, the archangel came to visit. There are seven archangels, however only four have much to do with Earthly matters. Gabriel the leader, Michael the warrior, Uriel the wise, and Raphael the healer. It was Uriel who came to see the stunned Lloyd, clad in mortal flesh as to not instantly obliterate him. Uriel was initially bemused. Did Llloyd think his prayers went unheard? Did he think his actions were unseen? Did he really think he was being ignored entirely? Uriel did not offer a soul. He did not offer resurrection. There is a saying. The only reward for work well done is more work. Uriel offered nothing but a vindication of faith and a more difficult and taxing job than the one Lloyd had already been doing. Of course he agreed to do it. In so doing, he became something unique. A sanctified vampire. But more on that in the next section. For now, know that sunlight, holy stuff, and his blood thirst were no longer problems for him. Lloyd had two jobs. Asteroth needed him, Uriel said, and not to fight his battles. And in the process he’d bring four somewhat lost sheep in the fold and give them a place to belong. Several very interesting conversations later, he, Heidi Roberts, Alejo Escarra, Verity Campbell, and Seth Roth reformed Bloodfang Alpha and joined with Roth Investigations. Roth had been rather tottering along with only Chiaki Ayano doing any regular work. These days, Lloyd is doing his best to fill the void Christine left in the wake of her departure. Warrior with a holy sword plus doing their best to be Asteroth’s conscience and sense of empathy. Success in the past 7 years has been, well, mixed. But Lloyd Adams is quite used to trying his best regardless of the chances of success or failure. Powers & Tactics: Lloyd was an Asteroth bloodline vampire, and most of his powers are unchanged for that. However, being sanctified by an archangel changed a thing or two. He carries one divine device (or artifact). It’s a simply a damn fine greatsword that, with his inhuman strength, he can easily use with one hand. The kicker is that it isn’t merely a slashing weapon. It is a divinely blessed slashing weapon, having been made from steel blessed by a priest and quenched throughout the forging process in holy water. So, targets that are only vulnerable to or extra vulnerable to divine powers receive an unpleasant surprise when slashed. It is, in fact, the sword of a Paladin. He didn’t kill the man; he actually sacrificed himself for Lloyd some centuries ago. For record, before he was sanctified he used it wearing gloves, as touching it burned him. It still hurt through the gloves. He used it anyway. As stated, his vampiric powers are largely intact. First and foremost, he is of course undead. Totally immune to all biological concerns. His physical strength is very high. Steel breaks under his fists and his carrying capacity tops out at over 800 tons. His speed is faster than any racecar. His quickness and reflexes keep pace, increasing his attack accuracy and evasion. His leaping ability is outstanding. 500 feet straight up, and that’s the weakest. His long jump, both standing and running, are greater. His resilience is impossible for unpowered humans without significant armor, even if he can’t ignore any damage under normal circumstances. Always has to resist it. However, he recovers from damage at warp speed, shrugging off crippling injuries in scant seconds. And his senses are ridiculous. He can see for miles, along with hearing and smelling for over half a mile. His eyes don’t need light, but infrared will do if there isn’t anything else. His ears are like sonar dishes. Bloodhounds are envious of his scent tracking. As for vampiric weaknesses, they are gone. He can walk in the bright light of day and is no more vulnerable to holy stuff than any non demon. His bloodthirst does not exist, although his fangs are technically still present. He’s running on divine power now, and that does not require mammalian blood to fuel it. In fact, instead of feeding on blood he can give his own to heal someone else. This can injure him, however, so it’s not something done lightly. Tactically, Lloyd is a switch hitting melee fighter. Striking with his sword is stronger, but his unarmed strikes are more accurate. So it’s a tradeoff. His mobility should not be ignored. Leaping 100 feet in one move action means fliers are not safe from his sword and fists. And he’s more than fast enough to outright any mundane automobile or motorcycle. With his senses, he can detect foes visually from over 6 and a half miles away and a tenth of that distance with hearing and smell. He’s a difficult opponent to escape. He has Improved Demoralize, Feint, and Startle with which to make his enemies’ lives more difficult. Accurate, All out, Defensive, and Power Attack are on deck. He can Interpose for both allies and civilians alike. Takedown Attack 2 lets him cleave through minions like nothing. And Ultimate Will is extremely useful when needed. He could, technically, stunt a Blood Drain (Weaken 6, Requires Grapple) off of Blood Gift. He will never do so. That is the only stunt possible. Personality: There had to be a reason. There are no accidents. Coincidences do not exist. There is no happenstance. A divine plan guides all things. Or so believes Lloyd Adams. It is a thing he spent five centuries clinging to. There had to be a reason he was born. A reason why the man whose body he is possessing died. And of course, with the Almighty almost always presented as the Ultimate Good Guy in Christianity, obviously the reason had to be beneficial to people. But the only thing a vampire is any good at, normally, is killing. Well, fair enough. He could kill to protect those who could not protect themselves. This makes it sound easy. It was not. He was still, technically, a demon. The enemy. He did not think his prayers were heard. He did not think he would be rewarded with anything but a swift summary obliteration. There were many times, so very many times, where he was tempted to cast his oaths aside. It’s not like he would care. He wouldn’t feel guilty about it. He did not have to be one of the strangest types of hero. He could, in fact, give in to his instincts and desires at any point. Abandon the faith that rejected him. But then he’d be just another monster, and the world was full of those. He’d know, he killed them regularly enough. Being just another monster could not possibly be the reason. It is a very strange thing to be a soulless vampire whose faith in what ought to be his ultimate enemy drives him to believe the reason he exists is to protect humans. Despite virtually everything else in the entire world telling him his faith was misplaced, mistaken, and/or outright delusional. It is also a very lonely and a very painful thing. But Lloyd endured. And then along came Uriel, and his faith was at long last vindicated. That was a very good day for Lloyd, as one might imagine. For the record, Lloyd is a very humble, soft spoken man. Solicitous, empathetic, and helpful. He’s a very kind man, really, which made it all the more alarming when he went full vampire savagery on his equally inhuman opponents. He may be very kind, but soft? No. The vampire savagery thing isn’t quite the same as it was, but he’s still harder than nails when he needs to be. Otherwise he’s exceedingly polite and mannerly. A proper gentleman. It should be noted, however, that he keeps a wall between himself and other people.

Bloodfang Alpha Overview Theme Song: [url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnWErAV1Mgs&pp=ygUaZHJhZyBtZSB1bmRlciBkaXZpZGUgbXVzaWM%3D]Drag Me Under, by Divide Music[/url] Bloodfang Alpha, in its original incarnation, was the top private military squad for the LA branch of a certain interdimensional law firm. They continued in this role after Roth Investigations took over said branch. Military may give the wrong impression. There were no unpowered humans with guns and grenades. Bloodfang refers to the majority of the complement being vampires (blood) and predatory wereanimals (fang). Alpha denoted their position in the hierarchy. Before Roth, the membership was 100% Team Evil. The three years Asteroth ran things saw a slow and steady purge of the more violent and bloodthirsty elements, and inserting his own people in Lloyd Adams and Heidi Roberts. Alejo Escarra was also a member at this time. May 19, 2006 is when things changed quite dramatically. Specifically because Chiaki Ayano’s assignment to disrupt the operations of the Council of The Forsaken meant Bloodfang’s leadership was on the chopping block. Lloyd and Heidi turned coat on the group. This was not planned, but certainly expected. Unexpected was Alejo turning on them as well, and Verity Campbell popping up to help after being (easily) tricked into betraying Asteroth’s) plans. To be clear, Verity’s betrayal was expected (she’s a soulless vampire, after all, and nothing like Lloyd) and what she knew was deliberate misinformation. Even Seth Roth made a surprise appearance after helping his father take down the law firm’s “official liaison” to the Roth team as a whole.The fight left Bloodfang Alpha shattered. With its leadership dead and its paymasters obliterated from the planet, the group scattered to the four winds. The name remained defunct for 6 years, until 2012. The sanctification of Lloyd Adams gave him purpose beyond being a rogue monster hunter. He got in touch with both Asteroth and Christine Gale, who helped him track down the scattered allies he had had that night. And struggling little Roth Investigations suddenly had a full subgroup and more employees. They try to operate as a sort of superhero group, hence the codenames for most of them. But Heidi still has control issues over her wolf. Alejo is the definition of a tweener. Verity is still a soulless vampire only acting in her own best interests. Seth still has an temper more explosive than most, well, explosives. And the boss is still friggin’ Asteroth. So, uh. Success has been mixed at best.

Chiaki Ayano Power Level: 12; Power Points Spent: 240/240 STR: +12 (16/35), DEX: +2 (14), CON: +12 (16/34), INT: +2 (14), WIS: +2 (14), CHA: +5 (20) Tough: +12, Fort: +12, Ref: +11/+12, Will: +9 Skills: Acrobatics 8 (+10), Bluff 10 (+15), Concentration 8 (+10), Diplomacy 5 (+10), Drive 13 (+15), Gather Information 10 (+15), Intimidate 10 (+15), Knowledge (arcane Lore) 3 (+5), Knowledge (popular culture) 8 (+10), Knowledge (streetwise) 8 (+10), Knowledge (theology & philosophy) 3 (+5), Language 3 (+3), Notice 8 (+10), Sense Motive 8 (+10), Stealth 8 (+10), Survival 3 (+5) Feats: Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Attack Focus (melee) 4, Challenge - Improved Demoralize, Challenge - Improved Feint, Challenge - Improved Taunt, Defensive Attack, Equipment 2, Evasion, Improved Initiative, Improved Trick, Luck 3, Power Attack, Skill Mastery (Bluff, Drive, Gather Info, Intimiddate), Startle, Stunning Attack, Takedown Attack 2, Taunt, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: Demon Form (Alternate Form 9) (Duration (continuous)) Demon Form (Alternate Form) (Powers: Impervious Toughness 12, Super-Strength 7, Attack Bonus +1 (+8), Defense Bonus +1 (+12), Reflex +1 (+12), Strength +10 (35, +12), Constitution +10 (34, +12)) Impervious Toughness 12 (Limited (Not vs. Divine)) Super-Strength 7 (+35 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 409.6 tons; +7 STR to some checks) Half Demon Physiology (Container, Passive 9) Enhanced Constitution 8 (+8 CON) Enhanced Strength 9 (+9 STR) Immunity 10 (life support, starvation & thirst; Limited - Half Effect) Immunity 21 (aging, very common descriptor: Magic) Super-Strength 1 (+5 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 409.6 tons; +1 STR to some checks) Equipment: Chiaki's Motorcycle Attack Bonus: +7/+8 (Ranged: +7/+8, Melee: +11/+12, Grapple: +23/+32) Attacks: Unarmed Attack, +12 (DC 27) Defense: +11/+12 (Flat-footed: +6), Knockback: -12 Initiative: +6 Languages: English Native, Infernal, Irish, Japanese Totals: Abilities 34 + Skills 29 (116 ranks) + Feats 26 + Powers 99 + Combat 36 + Saves 16 + Drawbacks 0 = 240 ****************************************************************************************** Chiaki's Motorcycle Power Level: 12; Equipment Points Spent: 9 STR: +2 (15) Toughness: +8 Powers: Speed 5 (Speed: 250 mph, 2200 ft./rnd) Defense: +0 Totals: Abilities 1 + Skills 0 (0 ranks) + Feats 0 + Features 0 + Powers 5 + Combat 0 + Saves 3 + Drawbacks 0 + Equipment 0 (0 ep) + Weapons & Armor 0 (0 ep) = 9 Age (as of Jan 2019): Height: 5’ 4” Weight: 125 lbs Ethnicity: Irish-Japanese Hair: Black Eyes: Dark Brown Theme Song: [url=]All That’s Left, by Divide Music[/url] Theme Song: [url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3nRYd2uw38]All That’s Left, by Divide Music[/url] Background: The tale of the Ayano siblings starts with the Ōei Invasion of Tsushima (a Japanese island) in 1419. The story goes that Joseon (modern day Korea) was extremely tired of the wokou (wako in Japanese) pirates who operated out of the island. So they brought an army and laid the smack for about two weeks before negotiations with Tsushima’s Lord and worsening weather brought an end to it. Korean and Japanese records agree that 123 Japanese people were killed. They disagree dramatically on how many Korean soldiers were killed. Korean records say 180. Japanese records say 2500. There is a reason for this. His name is Tsuyoshi Ayano, and he is a demon. Summoned directly by a wizard and placed in a fresh corpse. This was a magical ritual, not a possession. So it brought life back to the body. The wizard was wokou. It was Tsuyoshi who was responsible for the discrepancy. Joseon’s generals couldn’t very well admit that some kind of magic and weapon proof monster rampaged through their lines. And they couldn’t admit to making him a better offer, either. 2500 is a self serving exaggeration by the Lord of Tsushima, but most definitely was not 180. Tsuyoshi did not find Joseon to his liking, and was soon gone. The historical record completely loses him here. It is not known when or how a Japanese demon got to Ireland. Or, for that matter, how he got an entirely different wizard to fall in love with him and bear three equally magicproof children with him. The youngest of which was Chiaki. It is furthermore unknown what happened to him after that. The Ayano siblings, after growing into adulthood and leaving Ireland, were absolute menaces to society. Strong enough to smash even Demon Hunters to paste, and immune to anything a wizard might come up with, there was no effective way to deal with the trio. Not that they stayed together a lot. They each had stints working with Asteroth and Dhana, with Chiaki being the one most associated with the two. It was her two brothers, however, who played supporting roles in his defeat of Roger Simon and, six months later, an Elder God. Chiaki partnered with Elizabeth’s son a decade and change later on another world threatening event. She did find this a bit strange after she learned who the boy was, but eh. Of course, evil tends not to go unpunished forever. The brothers didn’t keep the same name to avoid being tracked so easily. Chiaki, roaming more often with Asteroth than not, didn’t have to care. Then Asteroth was gone, and it was just Dhana and Chiaki, who without him couldn’t put up with each other and parted ways. World War 2 changed things for her further. An unknown quirk to the Ayano sibling bond. If any died, the remainder received their memories. Including exactly how they died. The eldest and Chiaki were informed of this by the middle sibling’s memories slamming into their brains. Janurary 1943, to be precise. He’d gotten trapped in Stalingrad and finally could not evade the German and Russian super operatives and supporting artillery fire. The Ayano sibling trio was very close. The two left were as much a factor in defeat of Nazi Germany as any other super operatives. It was, however, a literal roaring rampage of revenge across Eastern Europe against all of humanity. So no, the Red Army was not spared. However, the war ended and the two regained their senses. Remarkably, the two managed to disappear. Though Chiaki was sighted with Dhana in Italy in the 60s, her and her brother’s whereabouts post WW2 are unknown until the late 90s. Where Chiaki and Dhana turned up in the small Maryland town of Americana opposing the newly awakened Demon Hunter Harry Brandle. 1997, to be precise. This is where Asteroth was discovered to be resurrected, and where he killed Dhana in 1998. He left the following year. Chiaki did not. Her remaining brother (now going by Glenn) joined forces with the vampire wizard again in Los Angeles, but pulled that heroic sacrifice before the year was out. His memories slammed into Chiaki like her other brother’s had, and like before she went a little mad with grief. She’d changed in the interim, however. Her plan to destroy Americana was slapdash and somewhat easily foiled by Harry. In truth, she wanted him to kill her. He figured it out and refused, rejecting both her despair and her remorse. Death is not redemption. She’s never quite forgiven him for that, or for making her fall in love with him. She remained in Americana until 2004, when the last stand of a fallen angel led the town into both chaos and ultimately collapsing into a pit. Harry and his group managed to escape, thanks to Chiaki’s sacrifice. However, it wasn’t quite a permanent as she thought it was. The artifact she used to collapse the Hellgate the fallen angel attempted to open (and collapsing the town by accident, as there was nothing to hold it up after) should have torn her corporeal form apart and sent her soul screaming into the afterlife. This didn’t happen. The artifact was delivered to Los Angeles from the pit Americana had become, where Roth Investigations had joined forces with the interdimensional law firm that had been antagonizing them from Day One. Chiaki was a ghost, tied to the building. Until Asteroth and Nyoan Ayano found a way to break that tie. Nyoan is Chiaki’s half sister on their mother’s side. No, Chiaki doesn’t know how that happened. Maybe she’s actually Glenn’s kid. Who knows? Then the two figured out how to restore her to corporeality. And, well…that’s where’s she been ever since. A member of Roth. The only consistently working member after May 19, 2006. At least, until Bloodfang Alpha’s reunion. Calling her a hero would be stretching it, but she’s not quite a villain anymore. Powers & Tactics: Chiaki is half demon and half human, which grants her a number of powers and a demonic transformation that amplifies them. Untransformed, her strength and resilience sit basically at the pinnacle of human ability. Though her carrying capacity is double that human peak at 3200 lbs. She has less need for food, water, and air, along with a resistance to most environmental concerns, disease, and poison. The main event, however, is her flat inability to age or be affected by magic. In the supernatural scene, the latter is a big strength. Wizards and sorcerers continue to be surprised. Transforming increases her strength past casual steel cracking levels. Her carrying capacity spikes to over 800 tons. Her resilience increases as well, and she can now ignore even rocket fire. As for equipment, she has her prized motorcycle to get around town with. It’s got a bit more hauling power than the average bike, but otherwise it’s just that. Damaging it, however, is an easy way to get on her bad side. Tactically, Chiaki is just a puncher. A pure street fighter who’s only real plan is to punch large holes in the opposition. Or may throw something big and heavy if they insist on staying out of melee range, the melters. She’s got Improved Feint and Startle to help the knuckles connect, and Improved Demoralize and Taunt to make sure that it’s more effective when they do. Accurate, All out, Defensive, and Power Attack are available as needed. Improved Trick throws in another wrinkle. Interpose is a surprising addition. Stunning Attack is a bit more polite than putting her fist through someone’s abdomen. And Takedown Attack 2 lets her mow through minions easily. She can’t power stunt at all. Personality: On the surface, Chiaki appears to be both stereotypically and unrelentingly Irish. You know, drinks a lot. Likes to fuck. Likes to fight. Runs her mouth constantly. Very much a big personality. Honestly, she’s a hell of a lot of fun. Singing badly, snarking at this and that, and charming all the lads and lassies she can get her words on. Foulmouthed and fun loving. The life of the party, and if there isn’t one she can make one happy awful quickly. Ah, but you know. It’s all a big distraction. A massive coping mechanism. To drown out the demonic half of her nature, which thrives on smashing. The crunch of bone and squelch of blood under her fists. Screams of terror in her ears. Ah, that’s the life. But therein lies the rub. She’s only half demon, you see. The human half comes with a conscience. There’s a long list of things Chiaki wishes she hadn’t done. Contrary to how it may seem, it’s her being sober that’s the problem. She doesn’t go a rampagin’ or schemin’ evil when she’s had a few. The demon isn’t in the bottle. It’s in her mind, craving death and destruction. A lot o’ lives have ended underneath her fists. A lot o’ blood on her hands. Sober, she can only resist the urges for but so long. It’s tiring. Easier to just go wild and whatever happens, happens. So she drinks and fills her time not spent punching vampires, demons, and other things as full as possible with drink and merriment. S’better than seeing the faces of the people she’s ended. Staring. Judging. It hurts, you know. She’s the last Ayano. They might have all been kind of awful by human standards. But they were her brothers and she loved them. She has both their memories and her own. She’s a big ball of guilt, grief, and remorse. But she also refuses to be a big weepy ball on the floor. She’s going to keep living, dammit. She’s not capable of being a real hero like Harry is, but by God she can do her bit. She still loves him, but it was always a pretty one sided thing on her part. He never really felt the same. Fair enough, yeah? Not like she was ever good enough for a fella like that anyway, now was she? But you know…she never can quite give up hope. Not just that Harry will fall for her, too, but in the possibility of redemption.

Ryan Masterson/Xaphan Power Level: 12; Power Points Spent: 240/240 STR: +0 (10), DEX: +1 (12), CON: +12 (12/34), INT: +5 (20), WIS: +1 (12), CHA: +3 (16) Tough: +15, Fort: +15, Ref: +6/+9, Will: +8/+9 Skills: Bluff 2 (+5), Diplomacy 2 (+5), Disable Device 5 (+10), Gather Information 2 (+5), Knowledge (earth sciences) 5 (+10), Knowledge (life sciences) 5 (+10), Knowledge (physical sciences) 10 (+15), Knowledge (technology) 10 (+15), Language 1 (+1), Medicine 4 (+5), Notice 4 (+5/+10), Sense Motive 4 (+5/+10), Stealth 9 (+10), Survival 9 (+10) Feats: Attack Focus (ranged) 2, Attack Specialization (Modified Shotgun (Device 3)), Attack Specialization (Unarmed Attack), Defensive Roll, Dodge Focus, Eidetic Memory, Equipment 1, Improved Critical 2 (Hellfire Blast (Blast 15)), Improved Critical 2 (Hellfire Bolts (Blast 9)), Improvised Tools, Inventor, Ritualist, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: Modified Shotgun (Device 3) (Easy to lose) Solid Slug (Blast 6) (DC 21; Penetrating [2 ranks only]) Buckshot (Strike 6) (Alternate; DC 21; Cone Area (40-60 ft. cone - General); Progression, Decrease Area 2 (-2 ranks)) Xaphan (Alternate Form 25) (Duration (continuous)) Xaphan (Alternate Form) (Powers: Burning Fallen Immunities (Immunity 19), Burning Wings (Flight 5), Fallen Fire Control (Array 16), Fallen Resilience (Protection 3), Constitution +22 (34, +12), Attack Bonus +3 (+7), Defense Bonus +3 (+9), Reflex +3 (+9), Defensive Roll -1 (+0), Will +1 (+9), Knowledge (arcane Lore) +10 (+15), Intimidate +0 (+3), Notice +5 (+10), Sense Motive +5 (+10), Feats: Attack Focus (ranged) 2, Attack Specialization (Unarmed Attack), Ritualist) Burning Fallen Immunities (Immunity 19) (common descriptor: Fire/Heat, life support) Burning Wings (Flight 5) (Speed: 250 mph, 2200 ft./rnd) Fallen Fire Control (Array 16) (default power: blast) Fallen Strength (Linked) Enhanced Strength 30 (Linked; +30 STR) Super-Strength 1 (Linked; +5 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 200 lbs; +1 STR to some checks) Hellfire Blast (Blast 15) (Default; DC 30, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Hellfire Blast (Blast 15))) Hellfire Bolts (Blast 9) (Array; DC 24, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Hellfire Bolts (Blast 9)); Autofire (interval 2, max +5); Accurate 3 (+6)) Hellfire Burst (Blast 10) (Array; DC 25; Burst Area (50 ft. radius - General)) Fallen Resilience (Protection 3) (+3 Toughness; Impervious [9 extra ranks]) Power Settings: Xaphan (Alternate Form) (Powers: Burning Fallen Immunities (Immunity 19), Burning Wings (Flight 5), Fallen Fire Control (Array 16), Fallen Resilience (Protection 3), Constitution +22 (34, +12), Attack Bonus +3 (+7), Defense Bonus +3 (+9), Reflex +3 (+9), Defensive Roll -1 (+0), Will +1 (+9), Knowledge (arcane Lore) +10 (+15), Intimidate +0 (+3), Notice +5 (+10), Sense Motive +5 (+10), Feats: Attack Focus (ranged) 2, Attack Specialization (Unarmed Attack), Ritualist) Equipment: Undercover Vest Attack Bonus: +4/+7 (Ranged: +6/+9, Melee: +4/+7, Grapple: +4/+7) Attacks: Buckshot (Strike 6) (DC 21), Hellfire Blast (Blast 15), +9 (DC 30), Hellfire Bolts (Blast 9), +15 (DC 24), Hellfire Burst (Blast 10) (DC 25), Solid Slug (Blast 6), +11 (DC 21), Unarmed Attack, +9 (DC 15) Defense: +6/+9 (Flat-footed: +4), Knockback: -13 Initiative: +1 Languages: English Native, Spanish Totals: Abilities 22 + Skills 18 (72 ranks) + Feats 8 + Powers 159 + Combat 18 + Saves 15 + Drawbacks 0 = 240 Age (as of Jan 2019): 42 (Ryan), Incalculable (Xaphan) Height: 6’ 1” Weight: 165 lbs Ethnicity: Caucasian (Ryan), Fallen Angel (Xaphan) Hair: Brown (Ryan), Black (Xaphan) Eyes: Dark Brown (Ryan), Red (Xaphan) Theme Song: [url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKtZtBfJ39s]Falling, by Fabvl featuring somebody[/url] Background: Ryan Masterson was just a guy, you know? A shy, geeky nerd. A physics doctorate student at UCLA. Granted, he was one of the smartest people in the building, dazzling the few that high up in the department with his intellect. This was, well, the problem. The few part. Ryan was happy enough to finish his education and go on to work in a related field. He didn’t have, you know, ambitions. Enter the pretty girl with ambitions. It’s an old story, regardless of the genders involved. One beautiful but less smart wraps the less pretty but definite genius around their finger and gets them to do whatever they want. In this case, it was work on a device to breach the dimensional wall. She didn’t have the chops to do it herself, and she wanted to impress the professor. So you know. Device worked after Ryan’s efforts…and she punted him through the resulting portal and claimed the results for herself. Because narcissism is a hell of a drug or something. Ryan ended up in a very unpleasant parallel dimension where humans were slaves and the world was ruled by a species of alien unrecognizable to virtually anyone in our world. A dimension where the laws and rules that govern both the natural and the supernatural operated differently. He was there for five years. Always on the run from the aliens. Slowly losing his mind. And then Asteroth, Christine Gale, Nyoan Ayano, and Shandra Hawkins busted into that dimension on a quest for something else. To make a long story much shorter, the foursome kicked a lot of ass, broke a lot of stuff, violently overthrew the government of that world, ended the human slave trade, and eventually escaped back into their own dimension. With Ryan in tow. Oddly enough, this was mostly Christine, Nyoan, and Shandra. Asteroth was rendered much less useful than usual by the changes in how magic operates but also by changes in his own vampiric nature. Ryan was Not Okay after the return to our world. However, between Asteroth and Shandra, he was brought out of his shell and became a member of the Roth Investigations team. It had been maybe a year here, as again time ran faster there. Even if he didn’t age any faster. Look, it’s weird. At any rate, he was a member of the team for all the stuff with Seth Roth and Asteroth’s old love Elizabeth taking over the world briefly. In fact, he was the one who first broke free from the brainwashing and freed the rest of the team. Which led to the end of that whole affair. It wasn’t until several months after Roth took over the interdimensional law firm that had been plaguing the group since the start that it happened. The relationship with Shandra turned out not to last after she killed the woman who’d exiled him to that dimension specifically to stop him from doing it. At the law firm, he drifted into a relationship with Nyoan that lasted until, again, it happened. World’s full of cultists, you know? Forgotten gods, old demons, fallen angels, and other beings with more power than humans normally possess have all at one point been worshiped as deities without, you know, actually being one. Xaphan is one such being. Back when he was Xaphiel, he was an Angel of the Lord. You know. Heaven. Trumpets. Paradise. The whole deal. Then there was a certain rebellion by the beloved of the morning star, and everything literally went to Hell. Of course, that particular event has been recounted elsewhere many times. After it was finished, Xaphiel (now Xaphan) was sent screaming to Earth. He was one of humanity’s most dangerous enemies particularly because he has not lost his angelic way with words. There was always a cult devoted to him in those days. How he fell it not written of in any text, but someone managed to kind of kill him. His cult buried with honors and swore up and down they would find a way to ensure his return. This was, of course, several thousand years ago. Barely the dawn of the Copper Age. In the ensuring millennia, without their powerful patron, the cult was exterminated to the last cultist. But not before the Bronze Age had begun, and not before they had committed their research into writing. Some arcane scholars believe all information ought to be saved, no matter how dangerous it may be in the wrong hands. So said writings survived into the modern day. Every now and then a bored wizard worked on the methodology inside, repairing mistakes. Until an extremely alienated young woman who worked for a certain law firm found the last book written in their voluminous libraries. The tale of Xaphan struck a chord within Amy Allen, and very soon the dormant fallen angel had his first priestess in several thousand years. After this the Roth Investigations team took over the law firm, and Amy Allen because Ryan Masterson’s direct underling in the science department. Truthfully, she’d done everything she needed to do to bring Xaphan back ages ago, including having his stone sarcophagus dug up. There was just one thing missing. An appropriate host body. It was a simple matter to have the sarcophagus brought into the lab, and uh…the closest word is infect…Ryan. The team (especially Nyoan but curiously not so much Asteroth) raced to find a cure for Ryan’s sudden illness. Considering a fallen angel was burning him out from the inside while eating his soul…their efforts were doomed to abject failure. Ryan Masterson, beloved of both Nyoan Ayano and Shandra Hawkins, died. And Xaphan lived again immediately afterward. He slapped around the team (including Chiaki but again, curiously not Asteroth), scooped up Amy Allen, and raced to his place of power near Byblos in modern Lebanon. He had every intention of resurrecting his cult, opening a dimensional portal to bring in some demons, and becoming a major threat. Except the ancients had been quite thorough after his death. The only thing that awaited him there was Asteroth. Everything was gone, destroyed, scattered to the four winds, or merely eroded to nothing by the passage of milennia. Asteroth had know what was happening and who he was the entire time, of course. There was nothing to resurrect. No weakness in the dimensional fabric to exploit. And about ten times as many foes as he had ever faced in his own time. Amy pleaded with her new god to do something, anything. Until the rest of Roth arrived and Nyoan shot her in the face. Xaphan didn’t care. He needed to learn more about this new world, full to bursting with filthy humans and their endless works. So he rather meekly returned to Los Angeles with the team. Asteroth knew something else, too, that he did not share with anyone. Souls are immortal and indestructible. Eating them only places them inside the eater. They are still there. Without proper shielding, the barrier between the eater and the eaten will eventually blur into nothing. Well. The Violet Court figured a way around that problem ages ago. Xaphan had missed that memo. With Ryan’s body, Ryan’s memories, Ryan’s emotional responses, it was a matter of time before Ryan bled into Xaphan. The fallen angel had no idea what was happening. There was an additional side effect. Ryan, being human with no powers, hadn’t the faintest idea how to keep angelic power in check. So in addition to slowly losing his mind, Xaphan was slowly losing control of his powers. Since the lowest tier of angels possesses enough power to devastate continents and ravage planets, this was a Big Problem. The fallen angel decided that he’d rather go out in a blaze of glory than an invalid unable to control his power, and made a big move to destroy Los Angeles. Asteroth stopped him. Casually. And informed him of the rules of the game. Nick Phoenix may well have killed him permanently for that. Methion certainly would have. And both would have undone it with a wave of their hand. So the choice was simple. Lose most of his power and surrender to merging with the person whose body he’d stolen, or be erased and forgotten. Obviously, he chose the former. He integrated into the Roth Investigations team, a shell of what he was but still quite powerful on human scale. Ryan reemerged as an actual personality, though minus the angelic powers, whenever Xaphan was tired of dealing with mortals. Though it was never quite clear if it was Xaphan pretending to be Ryan or actually Ryan. After a certain point it didn’t matter anymore, as the two started to become more and more similar to each other. The personality shift from Ryan to Xaphan has grown less and less dramatic as time as gone on. Truthfully, no one, not even them, is sure where one ends and the other begins. So it goes. These days the merged being (whichever form he’s in) works as Nyoan’s right hand. Where she goes, he goes. What she fights, he fights. Powers & Tactics: Ryan Masterson has no superhuman powers. This is not a lie. They do not belong to him. Ryan is just a physicist and tech inventor. He wears an Undercover Vest and uses one technological device in his Modified Shotgun. Modified is the key word here. It has some minor armor penetration for its solid slug setting, and can spray buckshot in a 40 to 60 foot cone. And that’s all. Xaphan, on the other hand, is a depowered fallen angel who has superhuman strength, can fly with perpetually burning black feathered wings, and slings copious amounts of Hellfire. His strength is such that he can crack titanium with a casual punch and has a max carrying capacity of 12.8 tons. His resilience keeps pace, and he can ignore even rocket fire. His wings let him fly at racecar speeds. The Hellfire is dispenses in big blast, rapidfire bolt, and area varieties. Furthermore, he is outright immune to fire as well as many environment concerns such as disease, poison, and breathing. To be clear, Xaphan isn’t Ryan’s “super mode”. He is a partially separate being inhabiting Ryan’s body and slowly merging with his soul. Transforming from one to the other isn’t quite as simple as one stepping back and letting the other drive for a while, either. They share the same body and the same mind. The truth of it is somewhere in the middle. Xaphan can step in whenever he likes, but that’s also true of Ryan. It’s confusing, but somehow it works. Tactically, Ryan isn’t complicated. He’s just a low PL guy with a shotgun. He doesn’t do…well, anything special other than that. His only special feat is Inventor, which can be game changing in the right circumstances, but otherwise is just there. Xaphan, on the other hand, has a lot more to work with. Powerful melee and ranged. Accurate ranged. A stronger area attack. Even a movement power. Oh, yeah. He has both Improved Demoralize and Improved Startle to aid in hitting and doing damage. But even he has no special feats other than Ritualist. Which, again, can be a game changer in the right circumstances, but isn’t something normally useful for him. Ryan has no power stunts available, but Xaphan? Yeah. Hellfire Constructs (Create Object 10, Impervious), Hellfire Flash (Dazzle 10 [Visual Senses], Area [Perception], Selective Attack, Range [touch]), Soul Sear (Blast 9, Alt Save Will, Accurate 3), Infernal Healing (Healing 7, Action [Standard], Range [Ranged], Persistent, Regrowth), and any Fire Control power. He’s got a lot of ‘em, is what I’m saying. Personality: Ryan Masterson was a sweetheart. Just the nicest guy. Maybe a little unstable from his time in that very unpleasant dimension. But really just a down home country boy out of Tennessee. He loved science and, next to Christine, was the most purely heroic and warmhearted member of the Roth Investigations team. He…probably had a little PTSD from those five that were somehow one years in that dimension. But you know, he’d recovered a lot. After Christine died, he was more or less the team’s heart. Just a kind, humble, compassionate guy doing his best to help who he could where he could. But even he was not immune to despair. He was raised to believe in a fair and just universe. You put good in and you get good in return. Might take a little while, but you know. Even after those five that were some one years, he clung to it. His relationships with Shandra and then Nyoan gave it new life. But then he got sick. He died in agony, begging to stay, incinerating from the inside out. He knew, on some level, what was happening to him, and in his last coherent moments his belief in a fair and just universe shattered to a million pieces. Xaphan, well, he fit the stereotype of the rebellious fallen angel. You know, full of wrath and pride. But it was tempered. This was a being who’d had Paradise and lost it through their own actions. So, behind the wrath and the pride was a haunting sense of regret. Of having made a terrible mistake that he could never take back even if he wanted to. Which, to be clear, he didn’t. See full of pride. He rebelled for reasons he thought were good and justified. He wasn’t wrong, dammit. Placing one’s hopes in these uplifted apes? When the entire Host was right there? It was then and afterwards continued to be madness from his perspective. The only reason he was ever a “villain” in those long gone days was to prove this point. That the pathetic race known as humanity was too stupid, weak, and fragile to ever live up to the hopes his Father had for them. The death of his corporeal form was only a minor setback. One to be overcome in time. Except it wasn’t. Because he was wrong. Human hands, minds, and spirits beat him, and functionally erased any legacy he had. After his depowering he was forced to start to come to terms with the fact that he was, in fact, wrong. These were the two very different beings who are, these days, functionally merged into the same one. This has improved neither’s disposition. Honestly, it’s quite depressing. Neither knows how to be happy anymore. Neither has anything to believe in. The only thing Ryan has left is his abiding love for Nyoan, and even that (in the face of her own slipping mental health) is not nearly enough. The thing keeping Ryan from giving in to rage and doing something very unpleasant for anyone nearby is that, well, Xaphan has literally and figuratively walked that road. The fallen angel knows where it ends, and Ryan is not an idiot by any stretch of the imagination. For Xaphan’s part, he has nothing left. His wrath came to nothing. His pride was ruthlessly crushed by reality. All that remains is the regret and knowledge of his mistake. He betrayed his Father and all the Host for nothing. The taste is like ashes in his mouth. They are more and more like each other every day. Mannerisms. Verbal tics. That creeping sense that nothing they ever do will ever matter. Fun times. Well. The whole monster hunting thing they do is pretty rad. Doing violence has always lifted Xaphan’s spirits, and so now it lifts Ryan’s too. The net result is that they’re kind of a monster? But like, a good one? It’s weird. Because Ryan didn’t stop being who he was, and neither did Xaphan. Human scale humility and crushed angelic pride roughly cancel out. He’s not about to start bragging, but neither is he about to diminish any of his accomplishments. His kindness and compassion have been blunted by angelic disregard, yes, but they’re still there. So you know. He’s not a bad guy. Just in a real bad place with no visible way out.

Shandra Hawkins Power Level: 11; Power Points Spent: 210/210 STR: +3 (16), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +3 (16), INT: +2 (14), WIS: +3 (16), CHA: +3 (16) Tough: +6/+7, Fort: +8, Ref: +14, Will: +8 Skills: Acrobatics 7 (+10), Bluff 7 (+10), Climb 2 (+5), Craft (electronic) 3 (+5), Craft (mechanical) 8 (+10), Craft (structural) 8 (+10), Diplomacy 7 (+10), Disable Device 13 (+15), Drive 12 (+15), Gather Information 7 (+10), Intimidate 12 (+15), Knowledge (arcane Lore) 3 (+5), Knowledge (art) 3 (+5), Knowledge (history) 13 (+15), Knowledge (popular culture) 3 (+5), Knowledge (streetwise) 8 (+10), Knowledge (tactics) 8 (+10), Knowledge (technology) 3 (+5), Language 2 (+2), Medicine 2 (+5), Notice 12 (+15), Search 3 (+5), Sense Motive 12 (+15), Sleight of Hand 2 (+5), Stealth 7 (+10), Survival 7 (+10), Swim 2 (+5) Feats: Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Beginner's Luck, Challenge - Improved Demoralize, Challenge - Improved Startle, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Dodge Focus, Elusive Target, Endurance (+4), Equipment 3, Evasion, Grappling Finesse, Improved Critical (Custom Hand Crossbow (Blast 4)), Improved Critical (Throwing Axes (Blast 5)), Improved Critical 2 (Hubcap Axe (Strike 5)), Improved Critical 2 (Wooden Stake (Strike 1)), Improved Initiative, Jack-of-All-Trades, Lionheart, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Precise Shot, Quick Draw, Skill Mastery (Drive, Intimidate, Notice, Sense Motive), Startle, Stunning Attack, Takedown Attack 2, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: Archaic Arsenal (Device 3) (Easy to lose; Custom 3 (Multiple Weapons 3)) Weapons (Array 6) (default power: strike) Custom Hand Crossbow (Blast 4) (Array; DC 19, Feats: Improved Critical (Custom Hand Crossbow (Blast 4)); Improved Range (100 ft. incr), Precise, Subtle (subtle)) Hubcap Axe (Strike 5) (Default; DC 23, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Hubcap Axe (Strike 5)); Penetrating [4 ranks only]; Mighty) Throwing Axes (Blast 5) (Array; DC 23, Feats: Improved Critical (Throwing Axes (Blast 5)); Mighty 3 (+3 to damage); Reduced Range 2 (max range 125 ft.)) Wooden Stake (Strike 1) (Array; DC 19, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Wooden Stake (Strike 1)); Penetrating [3 extra ranks]; Mighty, Subtle (subtle)) Omnilingual (Comprehend 3) (languages - read all, languages - speak all, languages - understand all; Power Loss (vs. Non-human languages)) Regeneration 8 (recovery bonus 6 (+6 to recover), resurrection 2 (1 day); Persistent) Toughened (Protection 3) (+3 Toughness) Equipment: '73 Pontiac Firebird Attack Bonus: +14 (Ranged: +14, Melee: +14, Grapple: +17) Attacks: Custom Hand Crossbow (Blast 4), +14 (DC 19), Hubcap Axe (Strike 5), +14 (DC 23), Throwing Axes (Blast 5), +14 (DC 23), Unarmed Attack, +14 (DC 18), Wooden Stake (Strike 1), +14 (DC 19) Defense: +14 (Flat-footed: +7), Knockback: -3 Initiative: +7 Languages: English Native, French, Spanish Totals: Abilities 34 + Skills 44 (176 ranks) + Feats 28 + Powers 29 + Combat 54 + Saves 21 + Drawbacks 0 = 210 ****************************************************************************************** '73 Pontiac Firebird Power Level: 11; Equipment Points Spent: 15 STR: +12 (35) Toughness: +10 Features: Alarm 2, Hidden Compartments 2, Navigation System 1 Powers: Blazing Speed (Speed 6) (Speed: 500 mph, 4400 ft./rnd) Defense: -2, Size: Huge Totals: Abilities 1 + Skills 0 (0 ranks) + Feats 0 + Features 5 + Powers 6 + Combat 2 + Saves 1 + Drawbacks 0 + Equipment 0 (0 ep) + Weapons & Armor 0 (0 ep) = 15 Age (as of Jan 2019): Close to a millennium and a half (total of all lives), 42 (current life) Height: 5’ 11” Weight: 165 lbs Ethnicity: African American Hair: Black Eyes: Dark Brown Theme Song: [url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fQzPDnafrc]Eulogy, by McGwire[/url] Background: Over ten thousand years ago, before humanity started settling down in some dank river valleys and inventing agriculture was the first time the woman currently known as Shandra Hawkins was born. It’s not a complicated story, really, and she doesn’t remember most of the fine details. Basically she pissed off something a lot more powerful than any human, and got cursed. A very specific curse. She would reincarnate. As there were 24 hours in a day, so she would live 24 lives. As there were 60 minutes in an hour, so each life would last at least 60 years. Where was this first life? Uh. Africa? India? Look, there was a lot of freakin’ jungle and everyone was deep brown skinned, okay? So you know. Shandra’s been around a while. Specifically because this lifetime was supposed to be the last one. She thinks. Was it reincarnate 24 times or live 24 lives (meaning only 23 reincarnations)? Look, there’s a lot of years between then and now she doesn’t know anymore. It doesn’t matter a lot anyway. She’s been, well, a lot of things in 24 lifetimes. Daughter, sister, cousin, mother, grandmather, niece, grandchild, friend, lover, and wife. Priestess, princess, farmer, baker, brewer, prostitute, blacksmith, and the list goes on. She’s lived in virtually every climate and on five out of seven continents. The one constant, however, is that she has been a warrior. And, before modernity and the Industrial Revolution, if one was a warrior and not a soldier (not mutually exclusive, but not the same thing either) then one was a monster hunter by definition. She’s spent over twenty lifetimes killing things unnatural. Her current life wasn’t much different. Vampires. Demons. Other things. Punch. Hammer. Stab. Slash. Whatever. Maybe shoot. Guns were both better than ever and easier than ever to acquire. Though the latter may have had something to do with gang-ridden 90s Los Angeles. Was she the leader of her little neighborhood protecting band? Yeah. Was she going to amount to anything otherwise this time? No. And then she met Asteroth, who needed a competent sword arm. He remembered her from a prior life. Despite the complete change in her appearance. She remembered him, too, which is why she told him to go fuck himself. When this did not result in a massacre she realized he was different now. So what the hell. He paid. She worked. How did she get enfolded into Roth’s continuing series of events? Again, he paid. She worked. And then Christine earned her respect, she started liking Nyoan’s brand of dorky competence, and most importantly there was Ryan to fall madly in love with. She broke ties with the old gang, and was with Roth full time. Her relationship with Ryan endured through much. However, stealing his revenge on the woman who booted him into the very unpleasant dimension they found him in was a bridge too far. She was the killer, not Ryan. Except he disagreed. So their relationship fell apart. Other than that, her role remained the same. That of a competent sword arm. The muscle, which is ironic as both Asteroth and Christine’s demon form are stronger. She did, technically, die on May 19 2006. Bled out in the street after Asteroth’s little ritual. She’d taken out a nest of vampires serving the Council of The Forsaken. Outnumbered at least a dozen to one, after which she stopped counting and started swinging weapons. That day is when she found out that he’d altered her little curse from reincarnation to resurrection. And he’d recharged it in the bargain. She knows he thought he was doing something nice for her. And it’s difficult to be, you know, mad about not being dead. She left Los Angeles and took Christine with her because he felt the need to hide what he’d done. To not tell her about it. She is not a child and he is not her guardian. So the two of them rolled out in Shandra’s ’73 Firebird that September. It’s been 12 years of increasingly complicated events since. Between the machinations of various demons, fallen angels, dark elves, jotunn, and on one memorable event, the god of mischief Loki himself (not to fret, he turned coat on the villains of the piece). Christine, Shandra, Robin McKinnon (an old associate from the early days in LA), an genuine Norse valkyrie in Estrid Silubra, and Marisol Almeida (living link to one of the original Seven Soldiers) have been kept quite busy. In fact, Christine and Shandra have found themselves unlikely leaders in the North American monster hunter community, in opposition to Harry Brandle’s alliance of Demon Hunters and supporting players. To tell the truth, she doesn’t like Harry much. She knows his type. When all someone knows how to be is a good person, they don’t understand very well the people who struggle with it or simply don’t give a shit. He’s not a bad guy. Quite the opposite. That’s kind of the problem. Eh, whatever. Back to work. Monsters to kill, you know. Powers & Tactics: Shandra only has the one, relatively minor superhuman power. Whenever she dies, she comes back a day later. Barring any shenanigans with her corpse, which doesn’t rot in the interim, or her soul, which happened once. Hellhounds. Don’t ask. Otherwise all she has is weapons, training, and experience. The training and experience mean she’s tougher than she looks and she basically can speak any human language. Over twenty lifetimes will open a person’s eyes to how language works, more or less. Her weapons are a bit varied and interesting, if ultimately mundane. She has two ranged and two melee options, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. In melee, her Hubcap Axe is arguably her trademark weapon. It hits hard, is quite sharp, and can penetrate armor. What it is not, however, is particularly subtle or concealable. Which is where her Wooden Stake comes in. It’s weaker, yes, but is easily concealed up a sleeve and can still penetrate some armor. At range, her Throwing Axes can really bring the damage. However, as throwing weapons their range is quite short and like the Hubcap Axe they’re not particularly subtle or easy to hide weapons. Her Custom Hand Crossbow, on the other hand, can easily fit up her other sleeve, has superior range, and doesn’t make much noise when used. One of the most important parts of being a warrior is having the right tool for the job, after all. This is why she traded in her dumpy old pickup and nabbed a cherry ’73 Pontiac Firebird. She retuned the engine so that it’s fast as all hell. Plenty of hidden compartments for weapons if needed, too. Tactically, Shandra has some options. Custom Hand Crossbow has the longest reach, for when enemies are over there. When they’re a bit closer but still out of melee, she has her Throwing Axes. In actual melee she has her trademark Hubcap Axe. And for more subtle situations in which she can’t bring obvious weapons (or if she’s been disarmed) her Wooden Stake is always up one sleeve. She’s got Improved Demoralize and Startle to mess with enemies. Accurate, All Out, Defensive, and Power Attack are on deck if needed. Move by Action keeps her mobile. Stunning Attack is for more polite violence. Takedown Attack 2 lets her hack through minions effortlessly, especially when using her Hubcap Axe. Lionheart, with its +4 vs fear, means she’s harder to scare than most expect. And with Beginner’s Luck and Jack of All Trades (from her many lifetimes) she can try her hand at anything and probably do well. She can’t power stunt. Personality: Shandra is not a hero. She is a warrior and a monster hunter. These are not the same thing. She is a warrior. A professional killer. To be clear, like 90+% of what she kills isn’t human, animal, vegetable, or mineral. To put it better, she simply doesn’t care about the grand struggle of good vs evil. It’s irrelevant to someone in the trenches doing the work. You know, like her. It’s not about saving human lives directly. It’s about killing the literally inhuman fuckers who routinely take or ruin said lives. Stuff all that noble bullshit. She’s busy splitting a vampire’s head in half with an axe. A practical woman, our Shandra. So by that token, she’ll kill people just as easily. She has no sympathy and less mercy for those who willingly surrender to such creatures. She’s not technically opposed to saving them from the thrall of the whatever, you know? But if, in the moment, it’s down to her or someone else? She’ll send flowers. Maybe write a eulogy if she knew them at all. With that said, 24 lifetimes is a long time to pile up regrets. She’s done some terrible things. She’s made enough mistakes for all of those lives. She’s fought wars for power. Killed friends who trusted her. Betrayed family to their doom. She makes no claims of being or having been a saint. So, you know. Sometimes it bothers her. Sometimes she lies in bed at night and contemplates that she’s very likely getting one of the punishment afterlives. It’s…kind of a sobering thought, honestly. And she shoves that sobering thought back in its box. Because it’s time to get back to work. She’s a simple woman. Hunting monsters. Diner food. Cheap motels. Cheaper booze. One night stands with interested parties. All paid for with some light credit card fraud. Eh, compared to a few lifetimes ago it’s paradise. So whatever.