| Attributes | Body: | 3 | Quickness: | 4 | Strength: | 3 | Charisma: | 5 | Intelligence: | 6 | Willpower: | 6 | Essence: | 6 | Magic: | 6 | Reaction: | 5 | Initiative | 5+1D6 | Dice Pools | Combat: | 8 | Spell: | 6 | Karma: | 1 | Cyberware | None | Bioware | None |
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| Skills | Active | Athletics: | 3 | Aura reading: | 4 | Bike: | 3 | Conjuring: | 6 | Etiquette: | 3 | Sorcery: | 6 | Stealth: | 5 | Submachineguns: | 4 | Knowledge | Street | Gang Identification: | 4 | Academic | Mythology: | 5 | Research: | 4 | Sixth World | Shamanic Practices: | 5 | Hermetic History: | 4 | Seattle Metroplex Politics: | 4 | Background | Interests | Conspiracy Theories | 4 | Languages | English: | 5 | English R/W: | 2 | Ute: | 4 | Ute R/W: | 2 |
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| Spells |
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| Edges | Home Ground: Northern Crescent (+2) | Sense of Direction (+1) | Will to Live (+1) | Flaws | Dark Secret (-2) | Hunted (-2) |
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| Contacts | Fury (level 1): | female human fixer | Onyx (level 2): | male elf, member Tir SOG 6 | Widowmaker (level 1): | female human mercenary |
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| Gear |
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History
It was the year war came to California. A year of madness that saw neighbor rise up against neighbor, and sons take arms against their fathers. The hysteria didn't touch you at first; with your parents dead from VITAS seven years ago, you lived a hermit's lifestyle. The scrub plains and foothills of the Northern Crescent were your sisters, and the night sky above your father. Snake guided your footsteps through the arroyos of your homeland, and the only commerce you sought was that of wisdom and its brother, secrets. But you could not remain aloof for long.
Every town you stopped in, every ranch that traded food for your medicine, every traveler you passed spoke of war. Tales of the Tir pushing south into the Crescent, and the feathered warriors of Aztlan grinding north from the jungles of Central America. You began to feel it too, a strange electric tension in the air. Different, though, than what the locals whispered about. This had the smell of magic about it, of powerful spirits and forces. Snake smelled it, tasted it, and found it worthwhile.
So you gathered up your supplies and went north, sliding carefully in and out of the canyons and dry rivers, avoiding the UCAS guards and the roving Tir LRRPs. On the horizon at night you began to see the glow of a mana pyre, a great locus of energy, and it whispered its name to you. Shasta. Hestaby. And Snake understood. Here there be dragons.
The soldiers became more numerous, harder to hide from, and the spirits were everywhere. So you went to ground, slithering onward, feeling the cool rocks scrape against your skin. Deeper into the mountain compound you penetrated, inching your way through ancient lava tunnels forgotten by all but Snake. The darkness and the claustrophobia beat on you at every turn, and only the slightest glimmer of mana guided you forward. Eventually, though, the tunnels linked up, growing larger, and you smiled to think of the underground river of molten rock that had carved this road for you to use.
Meter by meter the mountain gave up its secrets to you, all the honeycombed passages that had been cleared for use by minions of the dragon, until you began to see a fraction of the greater plan. This was less of a lair for Hestaby, and more a fortress established at the edge of an upstart kingdom to keep its princes at bay. More puzzle pieces began to fall into place, but one last secret was denied you: the deepest room in the mountain labyrinth, centered over the old lava cap, and guarded by the most ancient and powerful of runes. But you already had guessed what was there. Escaping now, was the key, and it was a blur of magical battles and desperate sprints before you emerged under the welcoming night sky again.
Horribly wounded and delirious, you staggered clear of the Enclave and wandered aimlessly for hours. Your strength fading, you crawled beneath the shelter of an overhang to await death and the dawn. Luckily, a Tir LRRP found you first. The elves would have left you to die if one of them hadn't recognized your nature, and convinced the others that you might know something of use. Once nursed back to health, you told them most of what you'd learned about the Shasta Enclave, and none of what you suspected.
After just a day, you parted way with the elves, slowly making your way west towards the coast and Eureka, where you could get more supplies. That night, though, it seemed as if Hell itself broke loose around the Enclave. Hunkered down in a shallow depression, you waited out the thunder of explosions, and in the dirty light of dawn, realized what had happened. The elves, based upon the description you had given of the dragon's defenses, committed their forces in a surprise attack. But the knowledge you thought had been gained in secrecy was really passed on by the dragon, allowed to be learned so as to draw the Tir forces into a battle they couldn't win.
As quickly as possible you returned to the field of battle, determined to try and do some good. Unfortunately, the mercy most often asked for and given was a single round from your sidearm. Until you found him, the elf who had saved your life. His wounds were terrible, but using all the wisdom of Snake, you stabilized the worst. After that, he could be moved to a safer location to heal. Days passed as your repaid the debt you owed; foraging by day and fighting away the demons that wracked his body by night.
Slowly he regained his strength, and you learned his name was Onyx. Weeks became months, and the burning days of summer became cool, and winter threatened close from the mountains to the north. The land was still treacherous for the both of you, though, so when the time came to travel, it was by boat. The small skiff wasn't very sea- worthy, so you kept within sight of shore. Onyx took you as far north as Portland, where you were able to catch a flight into Seattle. Stepping out of Sea-Tac International Terminal and into the filthy rain of the Metroplex, you wondered what had happened that took you so far from home. A jet black Mitsubishi Nightsky limousine pulled up to the curb in front of you, and a woman stepped out.
"Diamond?"
You nodded, wondering how she knew your name.
The woman smiled, inviting you into the back of the car. "My name is Fury. Welcome to Seattle."