Name: Iris
Street Name: IC Princess
Fake SIN: Daisy Bonneau
Fake SIN: Rose Monge
Fake SIN: Lily Valencia
Metatype: Elf [30]

Strength: 2 [10]
Agility: 4 [35]
Reaction: 4 [45]
Body: 3 [25]
Charisma: 3 [0]
Intuition: 4 [45]
Logic: 5 (7) [70]
Willpower: 5 [70]
Edge: 4 [45]

Essence: 4.2
Meatspace Initiative: 8 - 1 IP
Matrix Initiative: 10 - 2 IP (Cold)/11 - 3 IP (Hot)

Skill Groups [130]
Cracking Group 4 (+1) [55]
Electronics Group 4 (+1) [55]
Influence Group 1 [10]
Mechanic Group 1 (+1) [10]

Active Skills [82]
Armorer 3 (+1) [14]
Dodge 3 [14]
First Aid 1 (+1) [4]
Gunnery 2 [8]
Infiltration 2 [8]
Locksmith 1 [4]
Perception 3 [14]
Pilot Groundcraft 2 [8]
Pistols 2 [8]

Languages
English N [0]
Sperethiel 3 [7]

Knowledge Skills (27 points free)
Bunraku Parlors 4 [0]
Computer Background 3 [0]
Corporate Matrix Security Procedures 5 [0]
Data Havens 3 [0]
IC Identification 4 [0]
Operating Systems 5 [0]
Safe Houses 3 [0]

Positive Qualities [70]
Analytical Mind [20]
Erased - Face does not appear on any feeds, instead covered with a spinning snowflake design, ala the Laughing Man [20]
Made Man - Chaos Engine [20]
Restricted Gear - Response 6 [10]

Negative Qualities [+60]
Dead Emotion - Compassion [+10]
Flashbacks - Bunraku Parlors [+10]
Prejudiced (Biased) - Men [+20]
Vindictive [+20]

Chaos Engine (Connection 8/Loyalty 4) [0] - Hacker syndicate to which IC Princess is a member
Eliza Haynes (Connection 4/Loyalty 4) [16] - Banshee street doc member of Tamanous. Used to date IC Princess until her infection.
Null Twitch [Connection 4/Loyalty 2] [0] - Paranoid dwarf who sells all kinds of black market tech. The only male contact IC Princess has.
Chloe Lucas [Connection 5/Loyalty 3] [16] - Elven fixer who runs a cybercafe.
Hope Serrano [Connection 6/Loyalty 2] [16] - Troll information broker

Fichetti Security 600 (450) + Silencer (200) + Internal Smartgun System (450) + 5 Spare Clips (25) + Concealable Holster (75) + 100 rounds regular (2000) + 50 stick-n-shock rounds (4000)
Savalette Guardian (800) + Silencer (200) + 5 Spare Clips (25) + Concealable Holster (75) + 100 rounds regular (2000) + 50 stick-n-shock rounds (4000)
200 Walter MA-2100 regular rounds (4000)
100 Ares Alpha regular rounds (2000)

Actioneer Business Clothes 5B/3I (1500)
Armored Jacket (900) - 8B/6I
Vashon Island Synergist Longcoat (1300), skirt (400), and shirt (300) - totalling 6B/3I
Zoe Executive Suite Short Jacket (750), Blouse (400), and skirt (550) - totalling 5B/2I
Zoe Moonsilver Evening Gown (7500) w/ Shawl (750) - totalling 5B/1I

Component Parts of the Mask Include:

Biomonitor (300)
Goggles - rating 6 (300) w/ image link (25), smartlink (500), flare compensation (50), vision enhancement - rating 3 (300), and vision magnification - electronic (100)
Hardening rating 6 (150)
Headphones - rating 3 (150) w/ audio enhancement - rating 3 (300) and select sound filter - rating 3 (600)
Helmet (100)
Respirator - rating 6 (150)
Voice Mask (800)

AR Gloves (250)
Disposable Commlink x2 (600)
Glasses - rating 4 (100) w/ image link (25), smartlink (500), flare compensation (50), and thermographic (100)
Handheld Sensor w/ Geiger Counter (50), radio signal scanner - rating 6 (150), and cyberware scanner - rating 6 (450)
Satellite Link (500)
Subvocal Microphone - Designed to look like a choker (50)
Tag Eraser (150)
White Noise Generator - rating 6 (300)

Autopicker- rating 6 (1200)
Maglock Sequencer - Rating 4 (800)
Maglock Passkey - Rating 4 (8000)

Aircraft Mehcanic Tools - Kit (500)
Armory Tools - Kit (500)
Automotive Mechanic Tools - Kit (500)
Hardware Tools - Shop (5000)
Medkit- rating 6 (600)

Fake SIN: Daisy Bonneau - rating 4 (4000) w/ Fake Carry/Conceal License - rating 4 (400)
Fake SIN: Rose Monge - rating 4 (4000) w/ Fake Carry/Conceal License - rating 4 (400)
Fake SIN: Lily Valencia - rating 4 (4000) w/ Fake Carry/Conceal License - rating 4 (400)

Cerebral Booster 2 (20000) - 0.4 ESS
Commlink - Fairlight Caliban (10000) w/ Response 6 (8000), Signal 5 (0), System 6 (3000), Firewall 6 (3000), Optimization - Stealth (500), Hardening 6 (150), and Customized Interface (250) - 0.2 ESS
Control Rig (10000) - 0.5 ESS
Datajack (500) - 0.1 ESS
Minor Biosculpting (500) - 0.0 ESS
PuSHeD (15000) - 0.1 ESS
Sex Change (20000) - 0.3 ESS
Sim Module - Hot sim modified (5000) - 0.2 ESS

General Use
Analyze 6 (60) + Ergonomic (30) + Optimization 6 (60)
Browse 6 (60)
Command 6 (60)
Edit 6 (60)
Encrypt 6 (60)
Purge 6 (60)
Reality Filter 6 (60)
Scan 6 (60)

Hacking
Armor 5 (500) + Ergonomic (30)
Attack 5 (500) + Armor Piercing 3 (225)
Biofeedback Filter 5 (500) + Ergonomic (30)
Black Hammer 6 (600)
Decrypt 6 (600)
Defuse 6 (600)
ECCM 5 (500) + Ergonomic (30)
Exploit 6 (600)
Sniffer 6 (600)
Spoof 6 (600)
Stealth 6 (600)
Track 6 (600)

Drone Autosofts
Adaptability 3 (150)
Chaser 4 (400)
Clearsight 4 (400)
Covert Ops 4 (400)
Defense 4 (400)
Maneuver (Aircraft) 4 (400)
Maneuver (Groundcraft) 4 (400)
Targeting (Automatics) 4 (400)
Targeting (Longarms) 4 (400)

Agent 3 (Legit) - (3000)

Drones
MCT Fly-Spy (2000) w/ Adaptability 3, Chaser 4, Clearsight 4, Covert Ops 4, Maneuverability (Aircraft) 4
MCT Fly-Spy (2000) w/ Adaptability 3, Chaser 4, Clearsight 4, Covert Ops 4, Maneuverability (Aircraft) 4
MCT Fly-Spy (2000) w/ Adaptability 3, Chaser 4, Clearsight 4, Covert Ops 4, Maneuverability (Aircraft) 4
MCT-Nissan Roto-Drone (2000) w/ Walter MA-2100 (5000), Adaptability 3, Clearsight 4, Defense 4, Maneuver (Aircraft) 4, Targeting (Longarms) 4
MCT-Nissan Roto-Drone (2000) w/ Walter MA-2100 (5000), Adaptability 3, Clearsight 4, Defense 4, Maneuver (Aircraft) 4, Targeting (Longarms) 4
GM-Nissan Doberman (3000) w/ Ares Alpha (1700), Adaptability 3, Clearsight 4, Defense 4, Maneuver (Groundcraft) 4, Targeting (Automatics) 4, Targeting (Longarms) 4

Rover Model 2068 (25000) w/ Rigger Adaptation (2500), Rigger Coccoon - Basic (1500), Pilot 4 (4000), Adaptability 3, Clearsight 4, Maneuverability (Groundcraft) 4

Comforts - Middle (3)
Entertainment - Low (2)
Necessities - Middle (3)
Neighborhood - Low (2)
Security - High (4)
Free Access (1)
Security Conscious (2)
Workplace (1)
Green Plan (-1)
Worse Neighbors - Ghoul Den (-1)
Rough Neighborhood - Ancients Turf (-1)

Meat Space
Ranged Attack (Pistol) = 6 dice
Defense = 7 dice
Full Defense = 10 dice
Infiltration = 6 dice
First Aid (w/ kit) = 14 dice
Lockpick (w/ autopicker) = 11 dice

Matrix
Data Search = 11 (13) dice
Analyze = 11 (13) dice
Attack = 10 (12) dice - 5 damage - ignores 3 armor
Defense = 12 (14) dice
Full Defense = 17 (19) dice
Damage Reistance (Attack) = 11 (13) dice
Damage Resistance (Black) = 9 (11) dice

We are shaped by our heritage. Facial features, skin tone, height, build, metatype, even aptitudes are influenced by the genes passed from parent to child. Attitude, too, is taught by parents, informed by their own lives and their cultural heritage. Where does your character come from, what is her lineage, who were her parents, and what did she inherit from them?

Iris was the child of a Tir Tairngire duke and duchess, their only child. Born physically male, the child was always effeminate. Her parents accepted this, and tried to teach her to respect all living things equally. Following her years of suffering in a Yakuza bunraku parlor, she has grown to instead treat all living things with equal disdain and paranoia. However, their emphasis on excellence did carry on to her, and she is a bit of a perfectionist.

Parents can be proud of their children or regret ever bringing them into the world. Some are loving, and some are indifferent. All of them are only metahuman and have their own opinions of their children. Assuming they could speak, what would each of your character’s parents say about her?

Her parents would be horrified to see what she has become, more horrified by what she has been through. They would be proud of her achievements with technology, but her cold, calculating demeanor would make them afraid of her.

Many people remember certain historical events for the rest of their lives. For those alive in the first decade of the 21st century, it could be the assassination of John F. Kennedy, or the Tiananmen Square protests, or the fall of the Berlin Wall, or the attacks of 11 September 2001. People remember where they were, and what they were doing when they first heard of these events. Shadowrun history has significant events as well, such as the assassination of President Dunkelzahn, the Crash 2.0, and the emergence of technomancers and artificial intelligences. Pick a few events from recent Shadowrun history and ask where the character was at the time, what does he remember about the event, and what was he doing at the time?

The Crash 2.0 particularly stands out for Iris, as it was the chaos caused by the crash that enabled her to escape from the bunraku parlor, and begin forming memories that were her own.

Very few people choose to become shadowrunners. More likely, they are thrown into the life by a chaotic and uncaring world. Even if she made a conscious decision to enter the shadows, her decision is influenced by the world around her. How did your character get into shadowrunning, and why did she take that path?

No longer having a valid SIN, having been given a sex change illegally, and having been altered time and again by the Yakuza to make her fit with the desires of their various clients, Iris had no way of reclaiming her identity within Tir society, not that she had any desire to. So she was left on the streets, forced to find a way to get by. Through skills she developed in her drive for revenge, she began to become a fledgeling hacker, working her way to becoming a shadowrunner. It was not until much later, after joining Chaos Engine, that she became a full fledged runner.

People have control over their own living arrangements. From the child young enough to use crayons and tape all the way up to the elderly shut-in who plasters her walls with family photos and cat pictures, everyone makes their living spaces more personally pleasing. What is your character’s living space like, and what has he added or changed to make it his own?

Everything is kept meticulous and ordered, with cool tones reflecting her icy deameanor. She has wholeheartedly taken on the identity of the ice princess, and thus uses whites and blues primarily in her color scheme for decoration. In many ways, her home feels more like a show home than one that is lived in upon first inspection. However, looking deeper, there are signs of life. For example, her bedroom’s AR wallpaper has been set to a constant stream of lesbian porn, the better to help her sleep after years of hearing moaning at all hours.

Everyone has beliefs, and many have beliefs strong enough to be convictions. Some are religious, some are political, some are social, and some are just about why people are here. What does your character believe in, what are her convictions (if any), and why does she hold them?

The world is a cruel, uncaring place, and the only way to survive is to look out for yourself, and destroy any who would threaten your place.

Everyone has aspects of their personality that grate on someone. Even the best of friends annoy one another from time to time. The flaws in a person’s character are as important as the qualities. What do you dislike most about your character’s personality?

Many would accuse Iris of being passionless, but this is far from the truth. She is very passionate, but does not show it in normal ways. Some of her emotions have been dulled greatly from the various moodsofts used on her in the parlor, so she does not express them as such, but her hatred is still as strong as ever, and that cold, silent fury that often causes her to overreact to simple slights.

The Sixth World is considered by many to be spinning out of control. If anyone could exert control over it, it would be the “Big Ten” triple-A megacorps. These transnationals exert a lot of influence on everyday life in the 2070s. Which of the Big Ten does your character hold in the highest (or least low) regard, which does he like the least, and why?

Neonet is held with the least low regard, as the crash saved Iris’ life in many ways. Also, as the major tech power that isn’t a Japanacorp, she has a soft place in her cold, dead heart for its products. From her time with the Yakuza, she has grown distrustful of the various Japanacorps, suspecting their ties to the Yakuza, and being unsure which one most benefitted the local chapter.

People make acquaintances and friends; we’re hardwired for it. Humans are social animals. This is especially true in the shadows, where often it is not the power you have, but the power you can borrow, and not who you are, but who you know. There’s a story behind each and every one of these relationships. What is the story with your character and her contacts?

Chaos Engine – Through sheer patience and determination, Iris managed to work up enough of a profile of the goings of her parents’ rival that had sold her to the Yakuza. Using her developing hacking skills and some freeware warez, she managed to insert that information into a fake criminal case file within the Tir, where the man had been convicted, sentenced to life imprisonment in a Portland facility. However, she had tipped off several go gangs that their rivals would be transporting something important along that route. She also tipped off an organ legger with suspected ties to a ghoul nest, maybe even Tamanous, that there would be lots of fresh meat there. When asked her fee for the tip off? She simply stated that she wanted the prisoner fed live to a group of hungry ghouls, to be ripped limb from limb as he screamed his last. And that before he was shoved into the feeding pit, to have a simple message whispered to him. “The child you sold for your royal seat wanted to make sure you remembered her, and says goodbye.” The level of detail that she had put forth into her plan, as well as her mostly self-taught hacking skills, caught the attention of Chaos Engine, who reached out to her. The rest is history, and she remains a member to this day.

Eliza Haynes – At first, Eliza was just a trainee at a street doc which Iris frequented to get fixed up, and a source of helping her find the right cyberdoc to remove some of the crap put into her by the Yakuza (such as the faulty data filter), and to help her put in some better stuff over time. However, the two soon hit it off and began dating. Iris suspected that Eliza, the doc, or both had ties to Tamanous, as had the one in Portland, but considering how that had worked in Iris’ favor, she didn’t see it as a problem. When a Halloweener attack on the clinic left the street doc dead and Eliza in critical condition, the Tamanous connection was confirmed, as the doc himself had been a member. Other members came to check the rubble, found Eliza barely alive, and infected her with HMHVV I to save her life. Upon recovering as a banshee, Eliza broke it off with Iris, wanting to protect her from being infected as well. It was an amiable breakup, and Iris still comes to Eliza when she needs work done.

Null Twitch – Not a member of Chaos Engine, but known by them, Null is a dwarf tech and warez monger living in a bunker on the outskirts of the Redmond Barrens. When she needed tech, drones or otherwise, he was always the one she was directed to. They don’t really like each other (Null is too paranoid to like anyone or be liked by anyone), but they have a mutual respect based on professional courtesy.

Chloe Lucas – Chloe is a semi-retired member of Chaos Engine, and the one who reached out to Iris in the first place. She served as Iris’ mentor and helped her get set up within the organization and as a runner. While no longer an active member of the cell, she serves as a means of finding jobs, warez, and more for the other members, all while operating her own little cybercafé, where people can get better AR and VR service than most can with their cheaper links.

Hope Serrano – Hope is an information broker who also runs a data haven that Iris frequents. The two have done a great deal of business together, both in the Matrix and the meat, and have developed a professional relationship together.

It’s Sunday morning, and your character has no commitments until tomorrow afternoon. What does she do for the day?

Starts her day with a cup of soykaf, black, and reviews the news of the night while having a breakfast of a krill omelet using vegetables from the greenhouse (which is managed by one of the home drones). She then spends the rest of the morning tinkering away in her workshop on one piece of tech or another, until lunch time. She’ll go out on the town, wearing some form of protective clothing and having her fichetti tucked away in hiding. During her day, she may shop for clothes or tech or something else, snacking on something as she goes, but she will invariably swing by the clinic and check in on Eliza. Upon returning, she will make dinner using vegetables from the greenhouse and some form of protein, once again. As she takes a post-dinner shower, she will use her implanted link to check in with Chaos Engine or Chloe to double check on what is needed for the following day. Finally, she will go to her room, an AR scene of an all girl orgy across the walls, sound on as well, and get some sleep.

Your character has a specific skill set, a list of Active and Knowledge skills that define what she knows and her areas of expertise. How did she come to learn those skills, and how did she develop them to those levels?

Most of her technical skills started on the street, as Iris worked her way to revenge, but were refined later to their current levels with working as a member of Chaos Engine. Likewise, with time amongst hackers, she has come to learn of hacker ways, learning of operating systems and data havens and the like. Her other skills have been acquired largely on the street, as she worked her way up to a point where she can legitimately be called a shadowrunner.

Everyone has their limits. People can be dark, but most people’s instinct is to draw the line at certain actions and thoughts, and they keep to their own moral convictions. Is there a moral limit that your character enforces on the jobs she takes, and in what shadow work would she refuse to engage?

Having been a victim of a bunraku parlor, Iris will not take part in runs that involve abducting people for a life like that. She will be hesitant with any extraction work, seeking details, overtly or covertly, to determine what the intention for the extracted individual(s) is.

While acceptance and bias vary from place to place, augmentations—be they bio-, cyber-, gene-, or nanoware—are increasingly common and available in the Sixth World. However, personal technological enhancement is rarely cheap, and many implants that runners possess are restricted. How did your character come to have the enhancements she has, how were they paid for, and what motivated the choices she made (if she did make the choices)?

The initial sex change performed on the child who would become Iris was not of her own free will, and was a sloppy job done. Later, she would get it corrected, to more than mere cosmetic. In point of fact, she came into a rather sizable sum of money from her work on the Tir royal who had sold her, an amount equal to more than ten times what he had gained for selling her, from his own personal accounts. She used this sum to have the data filter and skillwires removed, and instead to get a proper sex change and some gene and bio work done. She kept the datajack, having used it for her early hacking. After she joined up with Chaos Engine, she looked into getting the best link she could implanted, along with the other toys of the trade, using money acquired from jobs for the hacker syndicate. More recently, she got a control rig implanted, as she has begun to look into rigging, though she has yet to convert her drones to be able to directly control them as she can the SUV.

Life as a shadowrunner is by definition outside the bounds of “normal” life. Shadowrunners do not truly fit into the lives of ordinary people, whether they live in slums or mansions. What does your character think of ordinary life, mainstream culture, and those who abide by it?

Mainstream life is as foreign to Iris as she is to it. She looks at it, and wonders how it is. She understands that the Corporations are governments unto themselves, and that has caused this, but she wonders how people can simply tolerate it. How people can willingly make themselves slaves.

Everyone has nightmares. Sometimes, we forget the dream completely on waking. Sometimes, the nightmare haunts us or even recurs. If your character had a lingering nightmare or a deep-rooted fear, what would it be, and why does he find it so terrifying?

When confronted with reminders of her time in the bunraku parlor, Iris will often have flashbacks to some of the worse clients she was forced to be with, the ones where the data filter failed, and she was being choked, beaten, and abused in all kinds of ways. She finds it most terrifying, because the persona that had been slotted into her at the time was often begging for more, despite her cuts and bruises. Others are times when the terror of the situation was ramped even higher by the moodfix she had been slotted with, and these terrify her all the more, because there are people who get off on that terror with power in society.

People tend to attach sentimental value to items in their possession or people they are close to. They make an effort to keep these close by and safe. What is your character’s “sacred object” or “close one,” and how did they come to be so important to her?

Iris is incapable of feeling sentiment for an individual object, but she has always favored pistols of some sort ever since her escape from the Yakuza, having used a dropped pistol to make her way out. She tries to keep one on her person at all times if able.

One of metahumanity’s greatest assets is its ability to look toward the future and imagine a better life. Even small children have dreams about what they want to be when they grow up. What did your character want to become when she was a child, and what are her goals now?

As a child, Iris wanted to be a princess, living in the luxury of high Tir society. Now? She looks on such society with disdain, and seeks only her freedom. Her current goals are to develop a suitable roster of drones, all while constantly improving her warez and skills. As a perfectionist, she expects nothing but the best from herself, and is always pushing to achieve perfection.

A person’s appearance can say volumes about her. From fashion sense, to the colors she prefers, to the way she walks and speaks. Sometimes, her personality determines her appearance, and, sometimes, the appearance she chooses to present the world effects her personality. What does your character look like, and what inspired her choices?

Iris’ most recent cosmetic change before her escape had left her pale skinned, with dark hair and steel grey eyes. When she escaped and got her money, she got some minor biosculpting done, including a hair transplant to hair that was white as snow, along with a more proper sex change to get her on hormones and more, which resulted in further body shift changes. She is lithe and curvy, physically attractive in that elven way, but her cold demeanor puts people off, preventing her from being truly charismatic as so many other elves are. She chose this icy appearance to go with her nickname turned street name, which had been given to her by Chloe, initially as a joke. Her choice in colors for her apparel works with this theme as well.

Everyone has a name, but a runner’s street name is a representation of his connection to the shadows. Sometimes runners choose their own moniker, but more often it is given to them as a nickname or earned through some (mis)adventure. How did your character come to be known by her street name?

While Chloe first served as Iris’ mentor, she remarked often that Iris was a bit of an ice queen. Upon learning of the story leading up to her slavery, and how her parents were trying to become royals, she laughed and said that Iris wasn’t an ice queen, she was an ice princess. The joke name stuck, and eventually evolved to the more hacker typical IC Princess that she uses today.

Kathy looks pretty average for someone of vaguely celtic-origin north american hybrid stock. There's probably plenty of dutch, german, french and a heaping helping of irish in her, in addition to her dwarfness. Mid-brown hair, fair skin, medium brown eyes. Nothing fancy, nothing very wrong.

Kathy's parents mostly regret that dwarf separatism never took off to the point that Kathy could take her place in the society of her people, the way that the elves of the Tirs could. Other than that? They're happy she's a magician, and found a way to get trained rather than turned into a puppet. Pretty easy-going idealists, they.

Kathy never cared much about technology because it never really worked well for her. The most she really cares about in recent history is Dunkelzahn's death - not because of the events (she was working at the time) but because of the implications for the nature of dragons. She'd like to know more, but expects that she never will.

Kathy runs the shadows because it pays, doesn't require a SIN, and it's just a hop, skip and a jump away from working for a talismonger. After all, who gets to go evict that nasty spirit from the alchemy lab? Kathy. Who gets to pound on radicals for hours? Kathy. Who gets to clean the glassware afterwards? Kathy. Who then gets to go home in the slums and evict morons from the door of her squat with magic and a bloodied axe? Kathy. Really, it's a natural next step.

Kathy doesn't bother with light in her coffin hotel compartment. She's a dwarf. What she's mostly done is to stock it with goodies, and hang it with embroidery. This is why she has skills in brewing and fabric crafts. The fact that the embroidery and tapestry helps to stop the breeze from blowing through is just a nice bonus.

Kathy isn't religious. The closest thing that she has to a firmly held belief is the value of magic for metahumanity. A distant second is the idea of a dwarven homeland of sorts, but she realises that it's a quixotic dream of her parents.

Kathy's most annoying aspect is that she tends to be dismissive of high technology, as a bias based on her own experiences. It's not that she thinks that it doesn't have value - she just thinks that it has too little value for the costs that it imposes.

Kathy doesn't think of the megacorps as corps any more; she thinks of them as nations. They behave like nations. They have citizenry, they have laws, they make war on each other and they make peace with each other. As such, she judges them on their treatment of citizens and others. Aztlan/Aztechnology disgusts her (and if she knew more about their nastier aspects than she already does, she'd hate them more), but none of them really come in for deeply positive views. Wuxing has rarely done much to annoy her, and Ares sometimes comes up with something amusing, but that's the best weak sauce positivity she can muster.

Kathy isn't terribly social. She isn't asocial - she just isn't particularly extroverted. Her boss is her closest and most valued contact, because he made sure that she got lots of training. A nice side effect is that her job isn't really a 9-to-5. If she wants a week off to go cut people for profit? Not a problem. The job will be there when she gets back, because she works way cheaper than most magicians would dream of doing, for the fringe benefits, and her boss is happy to work this way. She realises that this was in his own interests, but she has nothing against mutual benefit. What else was she going to do? Shake her dwarven curves on a street corner? No thanks. Not even in a better climate. The fixer is of course an associate of her boss (where else would she find a fixer she could halfway trust?) and a frequent customer. As far as she's concerned, it's just biz. Good biz, but just biz. There's nothing very exciting going on there. This is why Kathy isn't a face.

On a Sunday, Kathy's quite likely to go scrounging up some food, and seeing what she can work up from her environment for brewing. This includes everything from receptacles to ingredients. If that's a bust, she'll settle down with needle and thread, and try to add to her embroidered grimoire.

Most of Kathy's knowledges and skills come from the talismongery. On any given day she would look at something new, and try to interpret it, or be given something to puzzle out. This explains a lot of her professionally-related skills. Most of the rest came from the early homeschooling that her kooky parents arranged. SINless, she wasn't going to go to a conventional school, but between free libraries and a wealth of information on the 'trix, that didn't leave her ignorant or short of reading material.

Kathy's moral instincts are basically utilitarian. Hour upon hour in a commercial environment has made her a pragmatist - but pragmatism can look a lot like a fairly strong moral compass. Don't make enemies - those folks may be tomorrow's customers. Be polite. Customers like that. Don't take crap. Customers will take advantage of you. And so on, and so forth. Call it enlightened self-interest. However, the written laws have almost no bearing on her decisions, beyond what Officer Friendly might care about.

Kathy's work as a hermetic mage is, again, based on her pragmatic, intellectually-driven approach to life. She didn't get a satori, or have wild undine-on-dwarf sex, or tattoo the seal of Solomon on her tongue or anything like that. She studied. She learned a discipline based on what works, and a desire to achieve important things. The fact that this included the ability to knock a small gang of idiots on their hoops just because they wouldn't shut up at 11PM is a simple illustration of the practical side of learning. In the same way, her spirits tend to be like her - nothing fancy, but all biz. Fancy duds, pricey cosmetics and splashy ensembles are for the girls who get to bend over counters, not dust them. She's tidy, but ready for work.

Kathy has no cyber, nor bio, and doesn't want any. It's not good for the magic. If by some misbegotten mischance some idiots put some in her, she'd go get it ripped out and then have the medics clone tissues or whatever to fix the hole. It's not as if the gremlins would have it work right for her anyway.

Kathy's view on normal life is that it's for other people. She looks on from the outside, without any longing for the house in the gated 'burbs with 2.5 sproggen and an Americar. She's not jealous, and she's not bitter. She just has a different view of the good life and pursues it in her own way. Right now, that's in the slums. She would like to consider building a dwarven warren with a few other trustworthy dwarves, but that time will come.

Kathy very rarely has nightmares. They aren't recurring, and she generally ascribes them to spirits trying to prey on her. This is one reason she likes to set at least one watcher before she goes to sleep. Sometimes they tell her about genuine problems.

Kathy's most important object is her grimoire. Not because she doesn't have a copy of it - but because all that embroidery was tricky and took a long time and many pricked fingers. A close second is her axe, because to her it symbolises who she is, but if she lost it on a run she'd just get another. Maybe one of those nice fire axes with a reverse spike. Or a drywall hammer with an axeblade on the back. Something cool.

When Kathy was a little girl, she wanted to be a dwarven chieftain. Discovering that she was magically aware, she modified her goals to being a dwarven witch for a dwarven chieftain and warren. Maybe someday.

Kathy usually wears her hair in a braid. If on a run or other particularly hazardous environment, she doubles it up along her head so that it doesn't have loose. This way it's out of her way, fairly easy to arrange, and the same principle applies to her clothing. On any day there's a fair chance that she's wearing a flannel shirt (this is Seattle, after all), bib coveralls and a leather jacket. She has a few other things in her wardrobe, but nothing that isn't adaptable and hard wearing. She's fond of hats, because in this climate, with the acid rain and pollution and all, they're hands-free umbrellas. Again, utilitarian. This means that she's most people's idea of exactly what a wizard doesn't look like. She doesn't dress in exotica, she doesn't do fancy wizzy clothes, she dresses like a dwarf who works with her hands. Even many of her boss's customers don't realise she's actually a magician, and a talented one.

Kathy's nickname is a matter of some idle discussion among her acquaintances. Is she a Can Opener because she's a brewer? Could be. That axe? Well, folks have seen her open everything from a can to a burning car with it. Maybe she opens the Legendary Can of Whuppin'? There was that one time a protection racket wiseguy came round her squat, and she ended up summoning a couple of earth spirit dwarf-lookalikes to join her in a berserker attack of pure rage. Word to the wise: if you want to have a protection racket, make sure your protection doesn't need protection from the customers. Getting hung upside-down from a broken street lamp by your own pants while a furiously angry dwarf paddles you with the flat of her axe to the ribald encouragement of the whole neighbourhood can really interfere with your tough, macho, window-breaking image. Crying and begging for mercy just makes it worse.