OOC: Bounty Hunt, Tag em, Snag em, Take em Downtow. Options

[Ecclesiastes]

Role Call!

Fox - Shadow
Sydney - McQullian
Darien Starr - Whizbang
Grizzly - Sphynx
Gun - paul_HArkonen
Jaws - gobogen

[gobogen]

I play Jaws.

[paul_HArkonen]

Gun, and me, siging in for duty.

[Ecclesiastes]

Ok gobogen, I just had you and Paul backwards then. Cool.

Everyone re-port your character backgrounds. Then get to work working your backgrounds together. You may also want to post what your character does for the team and whatnot.

You are already a team that has worked together a few times. I also need to know who would be in charge.

[Whizbang]

Darien Starr, checking in.

Darien Starr doesn't talk much about his past. What little that can be gleamed is that he was a special ops decker for Saeder-Krupp until he had a run in with some hellhounds. As he seems no worse the wear for the encounter, aside for less than obvious cybernetics, his reasons for leaving the corp he keeps to himself. He also keeps to himself the time in between, which was spent as a shadowrunner. He doesn't have a particular grudge against paranormal creatures...in fact he has an extreme fear of hellhounds. Instead, he works with the group to enable him to practice his skills with electronics and in the Matrix in a technically more legal setting.

That's what the rest of the group would know...here's the full story.

[ Spoiler ]

Darien Starr was born a law abiding citizen. Well...at least as close as one can get to law in Berlin. As his older sister, Katherine had left for America, it was left to him to support their mother. Whereas his sister took the path of the Shadows, Darien took the path of the Corp. Namely Saeder Krupp.

He started out as a security decker, where he came to know the Saeder Krupp system like the back of his hand. His skill at combating intruders brought him to the attention of the special ops division. Seeing the potential jump in pay scale, Darien jumped on the opportunity.

Perhaps he should have thought a bit more about what the job change would entail. It wasn't just running overwatch. It included actually accompanying the team, and retrieving onsite data. For that, he had to endure training in combat skills. It was there that he met Christopher and Claire.

Growing up, running had been the better option when it came to combat. Put together with Christopher, a weapons specialist, and Claire, a mage, they had an opportuntiy to learn skills from each other. From Christopher, he learned to handle pistol and rifle with reasonable accuracy. From Claire, he learned at least enough about magic to duck when it was thrown in his direction. In return, he taught them basic electronics.

As the program was intended to, they bonded quickly, a friendly rivalry developing between the two men competing for Claire's attentions. That bond would carry them through numerous operations with flying colors.

Unfortunatly their luck ran out. Christopher was sidelined with a freak training accident, leaving Darien and Claire to head out on their mission with a rookie for combat support.. They weren't worried, as the gathered information pointed to minimal security. Their information was wrong. The checkpoint was easy enough to bypass under a cloak of invisibility, but as they were about to the building, Darien was attacked by resident hellhounds, and badly mauled. The rookie carried Darien out, while Claire held off their attackers.

Claire died that night. There were profuse apologies later, when HQ realized that the minimal security schematics were a perfectly placed decoy. But that wouldn't bring her back. It also wouldn't restore Darien's hand and his natural senses, though they were quick enough to provide cybernetic replacements. For one leery of more drastic cybernetic replacement, it was quite a blow.

An even more severe blow occured in the relationship between Christopher and Darien. Christopher blamed Darien for Claire's death, for not uncovering the faulty information. From there on, there was always an aura of veiled hostility from him. The two didn't have to worry about continuing as a team, as Christopher's promotion had come through. Now he was Darien's boss.

Having recovered from his injuries, Darien found himself going from one hot mission to another. Seeing the way things were going, he looked for a way out before Christopher sent him out on a mission that he wouldn't return from. His way out came in the form of his sister, now known as Phoenix, who over the years had made a name for herself in the shadows of Philadelphia. With her assistance, he arranged to vanish from the company, taking with him a substantial severance pay. At this point Darien Starr vanished, and Starfyre emerged.

In Philadelphia, Phoenix introduced him to her friends, showing him the ways of the shadows. The actual work wasn't much different from his position in the corp. It was the seeing and being seen that needed work. And amoung his new friends was his sister's partner, a rigger named Gizmo. Still struggling to pull her life back together in the aftermath of the disaster in Chicago, she could sympathise with the upheaval he was going through. They bonded quickly, helping each other get over their losses. With her, he found a love deeper than any he might have had for Claire.

The three worked well together, making a name for themselves in the shadows of Philadelphia. However, there were bigger and better things out there, and when opportunity knocked, they followed it to Seattle. It was there, while running odd jobs for Lone Star that Starfyre met Daniel Dawn-Treader. A good cop, out to make a difference, he earned Starfyre's respect and his assistance.

Having gotten a lead on a suspicous shipment, Starfyre passed the tip on to Daniel. Little did they know that said shipment belonged to the Yazuka, and in the process of the bust, information came to light that would endanger the standing of Yazuka bigshots. They, needless to say, weren't amused, and attempted to buy off Daniel and his partner. With a reputaton of honesty to maintain, Daniel refused, so the Yazuka killed his partner. Shamans of his totem already being prone to lose their temper when insult is given, Daniel went bezerk, killing those responsible for killing his partner. That didn't help matters any, as the Yazuka had already arranged to have him framed for his partner's death. Feeling responsible for getting Daniel into this mess, Starfyre offered to help him escape. Having seen the corruption of the system, Daniel jumped at the opportunity to continue his pursuit of justice without the burden of bureacracy. With the newest addition, the team was set to make legends.

Together and seprately, they did infact do great things. Amoung one of Starfyre's crowning achievements was when he crashed the Aztechnology system right under the noses of their security deckers, to whom he had been giving a seminar. It was the same Aztechnology that would bring his shadowrunning career to an abrupt halt.

A run against a small archeology firm resulted in the retrieval of some astonishing information. Aparently Aztechnology was looking for artifacts known as the Darke Stones, to aid in the summoning of a demon. With data like that, it didn't take a rocket scientist to realize that the Azzies wouldn't be the only ones who would kill to keep that data from others. Caught between a rock and a hard spot, Starfyre turned once more to his sister for help. The best way to protect the team would be for the information to 'die' with him. So on the way to the meeting with their Johnson, he was 'assassinated', leaving Johnson and Aztechnology to blame each other for the death and disappearance of the data.

Unfortunatly, for his death to stick, those close to him had to believe it. Phoenix might know how to fool interrogators, but Gizmo and Daniel would be easy prey. So he was forced to let them continue to believe him dead. While on the topic of the missing, he figured that enough time had passed that it was safe to take up his old name once more. So Darien Starr emerged once more, with appropriate paper trail to explain where he had been all those years. There were still bills that had to be paid, reguardless of what name he used, and he wasn't ready to live a quiet life. So he took up with a bounty hunting team, where he would be able to continue practicing his skills, while technically on the side of the law.

[BishopMcQ]

Sydney checking in.

[ Spoiler ]

Anita Caldwell has always had a fast, sharp tongue that gets her into trouble. When she read Taming of the Shrew in high school, the teacher insisted that she play the role of Kate. The insult was not lost on anyone else in the class who had been on the receiving end of her temper in the past. She pushed on past the expectations of her peers and learned to tame her tongue with a certain modicum of social grace. On her eighteenth birthday, Anita was approached by a friend of the family to work with him and be trained as his protégé. She never knew what she was signing up for.

Then years of intense physical training (Exercise is good for you, honey), chemical adjustments to stimulate growth of muscle (Take your vitamins, you don’t want to get sick), and enough superficial changes to her appearance (You need to dress like an adult, let’s go to the salon, straighten your hair) came down upon her like a thunderstorm. Whenever she asked what was going on, Sebastian would simply smile and say that he was teaching her to be beautiful. She received instruction in a new, athletic form of Brazilian martial arts based on the sound of music to accommodate her burgeoning grace. Capoeira gave a violent angle to the world. Anita was ready to quit several times and go home to her parents, but she didn’t want to disappoint Sebastian or her father.

The parties were what she never understood. Sebastian would dress her in all the fineries that money could afford and drape her over his arm. They would smile, she would look pretty and hold on small talk while he charmed the more important guests. Every night after the parties were over, he would grill her on what she saw, smelled and heard. Who was the woman in the pale green Chanel knock-off? Why is Mr. Matheson shifting his support to the Tribal Council? What type of perfume was Madame Yin wearing? After being entrusted to Sebastian’s care for two years, she began attending parties on her own. She never turned as many heads as Sebastian did, but her presence was easier to overlook and she had been introduced as someone to be trusted with minutia.

It was a late night after one of the parties which Sebastian regularly attended, that Anita learned what was really going on. She had become his eyes and ears. He couldn’t tell her who he worked for, but he was able to get her independent work. Sebastian gave her a pocket computer with information on Security System Design and different devices that could be bypassed, and how to do it. She was forced to memorize everything in the archive. Anita was going to fade out of memory, and Sydney was going to get a job working for Watanabe Security Consultants. Her job was to go into companies and track down moles. Deep cover, it was a blind operation with management not knowing who she was besides a new corporate drone.

Sydney unlike Anita had a natural sense of style, a calm demeanor and was exquisitely polite and amiable. The brunette with a kind smile and corporate tan fit in well wherever she went and was not unique enough to draw any special attention. She taught herself how to protect her person in ways that Sebastian hadn’t seen fit. She picked up guns and learned fire safety from an old acquaintance from the parties that Sebastian sent her to, and she fell in love.

Life with Etienne was intriguing, but she started feeling awkward about keeping her secrets from him. When Sydney brought up the idea with Sebastian about letting her lover into their world of shadows and secrets, he would have none of it. He was already unhappy that she had started to learn how to kill and use lethal force—they weren’t assassins he said, they were used to collect information and let the buyer know the truth. Sydney walked out that night and never looked back.

She tried to tell Etienne but found the words couldn’t come out of her mouth and instead asked him to her. He agreed and she tried to get a new life in order, a life that she could share with him.

That’s when Halley came by.

In the middle of the night she awoke with a splitting headache. Her mind was attacked by colors and lights that mortal eyes were not meant to see and she screamed. Etienne awoke and tried to calm her down, that’s when instinct kicked in. Sydney slashed out at him without thinking and her razor sharp claws tore open his abdominal cavity. The sharp scent of blood, bile and darker things invaded her unprepared body. Throwing up didn’t help anything as her mind tried to make sense of what each different half-digested product was as it violently erupted from her mouth onto the bed.

Grabbing the bare necessities she ran. Getting in her car, she pulled out into the dark night and barreled through downtown with her autonav counseling a reduction in speed. Everything that she saw was covered in covered in light, people glowing in every shade. She pressed her hands to her eyes and just tried to scream. Luckily the AutoNav system engaged its contingency programming to keep her from crashing and dying that night.

Sydney found herself in Sebastian’s living room with a cold rag on her forehead. His body was wrapped in fiery wings like a guardian angel.

“Well, honey, looks like your time in my care is truly over. Feel free to stay at the house as long as you’d like. I’m going to clean up a few things at your apartment and be back soon.” His words brought the reality of the nights earlier actions into stark relief.

She started to look to technology, realizing that people on the Trid weren’t cloaked in the same light as the people around her, and began to feel sorry for her self. Sebastian forced her to get up and move, pushing her through the same routines he had used years before. The return of stability helped ground her life until she heard of a meeting of changelings, people effected by the Comet that same way she was--social outcasts and freaks who were drawing together to form a new family.

Sydney went to the rally and found happiness. She wasn’t at all prepared for the mindless hatred of the people who crashed the party and began beating the changelings. Mindless instinct works well against a single, unwary person. Against a group of rage-filled bigots and heavily outnumbered, she knew she wasn’t going to last long but she ignored the pain as best she could and fought until the others could escape.

That’s when Fox came in. The tigress slammed her bike into the ugliest of the brawlers and yelled at Syd to get on the bike. She spun the bike around and the two of them fled into the night.

Fox took Sydney home and got her patched up. They soon began talking about life before and now. Sydney found that she could tell Fox all the words that couldn’t come out with Etienne—the truth about her previous work and her unique skill set. Fox started getting Sydney to come along on odd jobs, tracking down bail jumpers and helping find the Children of the Comet that their families no longer recognized.

As bounty hunting came up on the horizon, Syd started looking in to research on Paranormal animals. She wanted to know what every possibility was that they would be sent to find and take care of. The woman got information from Sebastian about how to move things and people in and out of the city, routes to take and how to bypass customs. Now she works for herself and is finally happy in her life on a team of professional freaks and outcasts.

They don’t fit in to society, so they work around it, taking what leniency they need and operating on the fringe.

Basically, I'm light fire support and inflitration. I can get past just about every scanner and determine how people are feeling. Wards are my worst nightmare.

Human Female, 5'8" Dishwater Blonde hair, Blue eyes. Very muscular but lithe--think Olympic swimmer/diver. Tough as nails, she goes into sneezing fits around Hell Hounds. Sydney surged in a horrible way--Dual natured, fangs and claws.

This post has been edited by McQuillan: Sep 24 2004, 08:01 PM

[Ecclesiastes]

I'd also suggest a quick description of your character, including and of the weird stuff that others in the party would know about (ie: I know that two of the characters are Dual Natured, stuff like that).

[Sphynx]

Repeat of Background:

[ Spoiler ]

Grizzly, aka Xavier Raventalker was born in one of the oppressed Native American reservations in the year 2010. As a child he was always the shortest of the same aged children due to the UGE which was very new, and not fully understood. BitesLikeWater was the Medicine Man of the tribe and was the only one aware of the mystical nature of his birth, and gave tutelage to him. In all respects except blood, BitesLikeWater was the father of Xavier, up until the day of his 16th birthday when he was to perform the Rite of Manhood. During this long fasting period, Xavier met his totem the Raven. It is at this time that Xavier awakened and saw the world through the eyes of the spirit. His skills far surpassed BitesLikeWater, due to his magic being real and physically manifested. He could move things with his mind, and was even caught a few times flying through the air in chase of birds. Despite what one might think, this didn't lead to friends, as a matter of fact, he was extracized from the tribe, considered an outcast and even demon-ridden by the many residence who still followed the white man's cross.

This turned out to be best for Xavier who had always wanted to see the city where he knew would quickly accept him due to the wide variety of residence he'd heard lived in them. So he made his way to Seattle to forge his path in the world. Things didn't turn out as expected though, as a matter of fact, life went from the frying pan into the fire. Nobody wanted a halfer around, job potentials treated him as a kid, or as a reject. He spent the first 6 to 8 months working for ManPower, as hired labor. While on a job, a LoneStar mage noticed him using Levitate at a much higher than acceptable force and brought him in, costing him his job. It was only a short time before LoneStar changed the charge into a job offer, due to the increase need for magic security and investigations, and the spotless record of the kid.

For the next 16 years Xavier pulled 4 12 hour shifts a week, and received various commendations for outstanding performance in the field. His 16th year in though, while hunting down a JackTheRipper copycat killer, he ran into his first Paranormal, a Vampire. With the help of a Shark Shaman who appeared on the scene hunting the Vampire, he had his hoop saved when he took a rocket launcher right in the face, putting him in the hospital for weeks as they rebuilt his head. They replaced alot of his internal headware with cyberware, and his eyes are old-school stainless steel (silver) orbs with blue irises and black pupils. In order to cover expenses, the department moved him to a HTR team which entitled him to receive a higher grade of cybernetics, including a Smartlink which has recently been upgraded to include a RangeFinder.

For the following 8 years, Grizzly worked the HTR side of things until finally retiring just before hitting his 25th year of duty. LoneStar cops in Seattle know him by both reputation and name. Now he's spent the past 2 years trying to start his own Security Consultation business, but once again, racial prejudice has turned him against his dream. It's time to move on with life and find a new way to spend his years of experience without sitting in front of a vidscreen for hours.

DESCRIPTION:

Grizzly looks old. He's a little over a meter in height (4 feet exactly for you Americans that are still on the 'old' system), but always hovers at a height to make eye contact with whoever he's dealing with. He has very cybernetic looking eyes, long white hair that is tied in back with a makeshift cord that seems almost useless from the number of strands which hang outside of it and in his face. Wrinkles cover most of the scars from the damage he took, but if one were to look, they would see that the scars are definitely there, and not nearly as attractive without the wrinkles.

Anyhows, as team players, here's the "special" of my character (a CyberShaman):

He has 4 spells quickened. Levitate (he always hovers), Magic Fingers (basically a Strength 6 telekinesis), Increased Reflexes-3, and Combat Sense.

In addition to complete control over motion through his 2 major spells, in combat he's almost impossible to surprise and can literally dodge bullets, especially when that Armour spell kicks in. He also has a great Heal spell, Improved Invis (which appears to be self-only), and about 20 other spells that he often uses, but to a lesser degree. Overall, he's the epitome of a Sorcerer, all sorts of spells, with the exception of not a single Combat Spell. He calls his Silenced Ares Predator III his CombatBolt. ;)

Grizzly.

[paul_HArkonen]

History type thing for Gun

Each heartbeat reverberated inside his skull. Each beat another one of freedom, and another beat that might give him away. The thermal search lights played across his vision, each one sweeping, looking for him, but, in the wrong spot. It was sheer luck that kept him free now, a chance encounter with the general, a fortunate trip that dislodged his tracking beacon and a single, now dead, person in his path. Each a single instance that had helped place him here, rather than in the morgue or worse. They would catch him, they always caught the runners, except that one, the cyber zombie from years ago, and he prayed to cuatl that he could make it two escapees. It was his training he needed now; it was his training that might save him. The lights continued their sweep, looking a searching, and one close now, too close. They’re heading back now, to call in the mages, and the heavy T-Birds. Time to move now, once he made it into CAS territory he should survive. If he makes it.



It was a simple thing, sign the form, become a Jaguar Guard, the most elite of Aztlan’s forces. Now it’s turned into something of a nightmare. Each time he returned from a mission they offered to make him better, stronger, faster. Each time he accepted, seeing Cyber on a daily basis helped make those choices for him. “It’s just a simple surgery, no different from the bioware already in you,” they told him. But it was different, each time he came out stronger, or faster, just as they said he would, but he also came out less human. Each surgery had replaced some part of his humanity with the cold of a machine. At first he didn’t realize it, but now it was too late. After completing his full training and missions, the officer’s were amazed at his skills, his strength and his learning curve. They told him he had one more surgery and then he would be ready for the top assignments. It was only fate that saved him, a chance encounter with the general in charge of the base taught him about cyberzombies, and that chance encounter revealed the truth about his next surgery.

First through the CAS and now the UCAS, freedom. But there are still people hunting him, always they are there, always on his tail. His sudden moves should have bought him time but no, some how they were still on his trail. There, that patch of shadow has the wrong heat levels, that one has none, odd that. So that makes one mage and one black ops specialist, good both of them, but not good enough. The alley way there, that must be their ambush spot, two men, that leaves one sniper, but where is he? The building over there, he has got to be in there. Time to act. Sliding forward he took a single short step forward, and began his fall downward. Timing it perfectly his enhanced body could feel more than see the sniper’s shot fly just wide, right where his head should have been. Now, rolling out of his “fall” he raised himself to a crouch. As he completed the roll he felt his hand touch and integrate with his AK, smartlink activating in his body. Mage first, sniper next, grunt last. Three shots in a quick burst, each impacting the center of the odd heat source. Red spread across the street, too much red. Frag, spirit, diving from his crouch he could feel the bullet glance off his armored torso. That’s 2. Still on the ground he pulled down the trigger unloading at the Blood spirit. 10 bullets flew from his gun, his smartlink counting them against the total. Spirit there, where’s the mage? Too late, he could feel the heat from of the fire as it passed just over him, the mage’s reactions not quite good enough to catch him. There. Three bullets from the AK, red in the street and one less Blood Mage. Rolling left he heard the sniper’s shot his the concrete, mere inches from his head. Rolling out of sight he stood into a low crouch. Watching the approach routes he began to unpack the rifle, Coutl give me luck. Stepping out from his position and aiming at his target the mag picked out the target perfectly. A silenced “crack” in the night air and the sniper was down. Only the grunt to go. Pain flared in his arm. Found the grunt. Dropping the rifle, he raised his AK, almost too late the sound of automatic gunfire reverberated throughout the alley, grunt down time to move on though. Picking up his rifle he began to move on.





Ticking down the time on his chronometer Francisco Hernandez watched the meet site through the enhanced view screen of his helmet. Click, click, click, each second one closer to his appointed time. There, movement, one person, two, three, but what’s wrong with them. They seem to be having difficulty walking properly. That one is fine, but the rest seem off center. The job had been simple, track down one man, and bring him in, dead or alive. Now it had become more difficult. He was never alone, always surrounded by that entourage of his. The noise of the club filtered through the sides of his helmet, the pulse of music causing everything within a one block radius to vibrate. The two bouncers stood flanking the entrance, but they weren’t Gun’s concern. Gun, interesting name that they chose for me. Reminds me that the only thing they see in me is grunt work, my past, my future, all of it now just an afterthought.

The target, a well to do, wageslave, former wageslave, was dressed in a well designed overcoat. He looked fairly normal, spoke rationally, went to clubs, brought home women, paid his bills on time, and was clean shaven. He radiated confidence and strength, yet something seemed just a little off. Something wasn’t quite right about him. Something had happened to him; about 4 months ago, he had disappeared, gone, with no trace. His wife didn’t know what had happened, his boss fired him after he missed work for several days straight, and then he reappeared, almost a month later. However, when he reappeared something had happened, his eyes had a slightly maniacal gleam to them. He didn’t return to work, his wife disappeared and he began to go clubbing. The clubbing seemed normal until he the disappearances. Then someone found a dead body outside his home, he wasn’t there and the house was clean. Further disappearances lead to calling in the big guns, the bounty hunters. That’s where this team comes in.

Trancducing through his headware radio Gun reported in. “This is two I’m in position, target spotted. I’ve got three bodies around him and two bystanders.” Bystanders always get messy, but he’s smooth, never seen except in public, and then lost after the club. Crackling back across the channel, “this is one commence operation, three, you’re up.” From somewhere across the street muzzle flashes flared. At that same moment the guards began to stagger. “guards down.” My turn, a strange turn of events to place me here, chasing down people who, like me, just want to get away. Running forward out of his position, Gun lined up his AK with the target. Suddenly, the air began to ripple around the target, and large forms began to take shape. Not waiting for them to materialize Gun began opening fire with the assault rifle. “Shana, we’ve got spirits here, insect totem, you’ve got to handle it.” Praying that he might survive Gun emptied his clip into the targets, and slid his sword from its sheath. Muertos had served him well in the past and it would again this night.

The aftermath was bloody, the target was down, but so was Shana and Evil Eye. The night had been costly but the mission was completed, and now it’s time to return home, before Lone Star picks up on this little foray.



The night that Francisco entered Seattle the famous rains were falling. He entered the first bar he found, a seedy joint run by one George Harrison. George, as Gun would come to know him as, took one look at him and immediately offered him a job, a simple run. The job was his first introduction to bounty hunting, and the first time he had felt in his element since leaving Aztlan. Keeping his history as much a secret as possible Gun began running for George. Using the skills he was taught in Aztlan’s military he was able to hunt down paranormal animals and people with equal easy.

[Sphynx]

Heh, guess Grizzly and Sydney are the DualNatured ones? :P And we both hate Wards... Heh, that's cool. ;)

[Ecclesiastes]

Make that three of you then. Shadow is as well. I totally didn't notice that till now, thats a lot of Dual Natured. LOL :D

[paul_HArkonen]

sorry, i don't have any clue how to use the spoiler system so its all there,


In terms of special stuff the only thing is that Aztechnology is on his tail, they want their ware back, and he has a slight fear of closed spaces.

He provides any sort of combat related support that would be needed. He can snipe decently, as well as swordfight and use an assualt rifle. he is decent in terms of stealth and can out run most people, plus he knows his way around the wilderness.

ok that sums it about up


right, forgot the physical discritption. Gun is a human, is about 2 meters tall, and hevily muscled (think, football player). He has dermal sheathing, (regular) and heavy cyber and bioware, obvious from how he moves, its just a little too smooth.

This post has been edited by paul_HArkonen: Sep 25 2004, 01:14 PM

[Ecclesiastes]

Like this:

[BishopMcQ]

[Sphynx]

No I don't, not a single Combat spell. I have to beat on them as well, using Willpower since I have no appreciable melee skills. :P I seriously hope we have someone in the group for Spirits and Ward combat, or we'll seriously need to look into bringing in a 7th person in-character....

Sphynx

[Whizbang]

Apparently I'm not the only one with the Azzies looking for me and an adversion to hellhounds...funny how we all got put together...

[gobogen]

JAWS

General idea

Jaws is a dwarf Sky Father shaman. He believes in Justice and has faith in his Idol totem just like a god (seeing himself as a priest). He has basically made himself hate paranormal beings so to get rid of the guilt he feels for having literally killed his family when he was 11. Hunting has become a way of life to him now.

Background

[ Spoiler ]

Fight without fear

“Follow me, brothers, and advance proud and brave
For I have sensed that the powerful arm of our great Father Sky
Will fight on our side, and grant us the victory for which we crave
Over the demonic forces which Justice defy.”

Follow me, brothers, and fight without fear
For I have sensed that the caring eye of our great Father in the Sky
Watches over our bodies and souls to keep them from harm
And from harmful intentions that might within us lie.

Make ready for what awaits us in the dark
For our enemies were beasts from their birth -
Infernal creatures that must be annihilated.
Let us wipe them from the face of this earth.

And from the sight of our great Father in the Sky
On Whom, we, humble and loyal servants, rely.”

Poem from The Great War, by Jaws aka Abraham Lieberman, 2060


Born a dwarf in a middle-class family of wage-slaves working for Mitsuhama in Pittsburgh, Abraham Lieberman (Avi) has had two major events in his life; and both were heavily magic-related.

At age 11, his powers awakened and provoked a tragedy. All 4 members of the Lieberman family were peacefully sleeping in their rented boat near the shore of the Atlantic, on vacation. All of a sudden, they heard a loud sound and the boat starting wobbling. Everyone went outside to see what hit them… It was actually a gigantic paranormal shark who had smelled them that was attacking. In no time, it flipped the boat over and first took a deep bite into young Avi Lieberman, before going on to the next family member. Avi was in tremendous pain, but something had just changed in him. Actually, he was floating in midair right above the sea above the sea!!! Amazed and shocked Avi tried to see what was going on beneath him and saw that the creature was going to eat all his family alive. Out of a sudden rage against the damn beast, he created a lightning ball that hit the animal and killed it. All of his family also perished from the electric shock!

Abraham’s teen years were the worst part of his life. He had no family and no one wanted to adopt a magically-active young dwarf who … killed his own family. Avi was as remorseful as you can get. The huge scar going across his stomach, chest and back would remind him every day of his life that “with great power come great responsibilities”. The problem was that he didn’t know what his responsibilities were or even how to control his power. A group of metahuman hermetic mages took him under their wings and trained him in the ways of magic. He wasn’t a good student though; he was very weak physically, often ill, and also little motivated.
The second major event of his life changed him in a deep way. It happened when he was 20, he was working as a clerk in a college library and still living with his family of adoption, the hermetic mages, who were still trying to teach him magic. Instead, he received a revelation in a dream: that he had to go to the top of the highest mountain he could find and meditate there. And so he did. Father Sky came to him and announced to him that he would show him how to use his powers if he accepted to recognize him as his God. Avi was a religious Jew as a child and also needed a father figure badly… So the young Avi Lieberman accepted to serve Father Sky without hesitation; he was ready for this.

From that point on, Avi (who changed name to evoke a new self - he took the name of Jaws because of the enormous scar across his chest) considered himself more of a priest than a shaman and started traveling to acquire knowledge about his god and his profession. In one year, he had gone through most of the UCAS, the CAS, the Sioux land and he finally got to Seattle. In the Sioux land, he spent a whole year living with the Sioux going from tribe to tribe. He learned much about paranormality, the Sioux language and its magical properties. But he felt that there was still something missing for him and finally moved on although he liked that life.
In Seattle he found a small newly formed group of Father Sky priests/shamans who had intentions similar to his. He joined them happily and he has been with them ever since (it’s been 7 years).

At first came a time of meditation for Jaws, and he built himself an identity, so to speak, by introspection. He realized that he values freedom and justice above all, not unlike the rest of the Priesthood of Our True God and Father Sky. He also realized how weak he was mentally because of guilt and low self-confidence. At this point he intentionally turned all the remorse and guilt that he was feeling against himself into hatred for paranormal creatures. This active, voluntary act of the mind was a strong move that few people could actually pull off; but Jaws is that kind of man.
It follows that Jaws eventually became a bounty hunter, a killer of paranormal monstrosities. He started hunting down animals causing trouble and criminal paranormal beings on the run, and he soon realized that he could sometimes get some kind of payment out of it.

It’s been 6 years that he hunts down paranormal beings and he also goes after dangerous criminals when he is paid to do that.

Magical Group:
Priesthood of Our True God and Father Sky
Type: Conspiratorial / Religious
Members: 4
Strictures: Belief, Fraternity, Limited Membership (Sky Father Shaman), Oath
Ressources/Dues: High. Members are required to pay dues of 2500Y to maintain their nice house in Bellevue. They have access to their own Rating 8 Shamanic Father Sky Lounge. They all live together and share a common lifestyle.
Customs: These four Sky Father shamans are strong believers in the return of the true God, Sky. They are sure that he’s the infinitely wise and all-mighty master once referred to as Zeus, Jupiter and even Ra; and some say that it is also the judeo-christian god whom Jesus, Moses and Mohammed refer to. The four see each other as brothers and as equals under the ruler-ship of the King of all metahumans; even though Justinius (see contacts) is the true founder and elder of the priesthood. They believe in Justice and in Fairness in everything and for everyone. They fear that great magically powerful beings might take over and rule unfairly, so they keep themselves ready to intervene. They forbid killing “truly” innocent metahuman beings- so for example no killing of children. They are known to help the SINless, the poor and the sick whenever they can, telling them about the glory of Father Sky.

Personality

[ Spoiler ]

Jaws is very principled and ethical. He has a set of values based mostly on justice (which is different from the justice of the judiciary system) and avoidance of suffering. He will always protect innocents and watch out for possible bystanders. His faith is a central aspect of who he is. He’s generally the spiritual and meditative type.
Jaws is also a poet. He trusts his instinct and he believes in the powers that dreams can have. He is not what you would call a “professional” in that he doesn’t think that one should make lots of different plans to do something… one should just go with a strong heart and believe that one will be victorious.

Physical Appearance

[ Spoiler ]

Jaws is quite short for a dwarf, standing 4 foot tall. On the street, he generally wears jeans, a t-shirt and a long coat. He’s tough to spot in a crowd and doesn’t make a lot of noise either. He’s reserved in attitude, but intense and interesting when you get to speak to him and know him a little bit. He leans more on the left when he walks because he is partly infirm from his old wound. He has dark brown hair and eyes. He has a beard but no mustache and that gives him a fuzzy look. He looks older than his 28 years of age, mostly because of the facial hair and the wisdom in his eyes. Jaws always wears an amulet with a lightning bolt design on it.

SKILLS

I've got plenty of combat spells as well as mind control spells. I have Armor and Improved Reflexes +3 active at all time using foci.

More importantly, banishing 8, initiate grade 4 with shielding (will be always on with 4 dice), cleansing, masking and centering. Not afraid of wards ;)

[Ecclesiastes]

[Sphynx]

[Shadow]

Name: Sahara Clark
Age 28
Nationality: German/Indian (from India)
Hair: Black
Skin(fur): Golden Blonde
Eyes: Golden
Height: 5'6
Weight: 130

Specialties:

Pistols and perception

Personality:

Sahara is a quirky, up beat girl with an optimistic attitude. While she has a lot of issues pertaining to her surge she is generally in a good mood.

History:

Sahara is a Ex-Lonestar Detective, decorated several time in the line of duty. She retired form the force when she surged. not wanting to give up law enforcement and helping people all together she started Bounty Hunting and looking for missing children. She hooked up with Sydney a little while back and the two have been working together ever since.

[paul_HArkonen]

now, ye old nominations for leader, my vote goes to Sahara (shadow's character) she seems to be the best qualified, in my opinion.

Or if nothing else, GUn, (my character) could be the leader, but would likely be the blunt military comander type.

[Sphynx]

I don't care about a leader (or if we even have one), but I'd like to solidify the relations with the team and me.

Sahara should know (at least know of) Grizzly VERY well. He's one of the most highly decorated LoneStar HTR officers ever. It's very likely to have worked together at some point in the past (even if it was just me defiling a crime scene as I gunned for Runners). :P


Jaws and I have a background already setup a bit, having hunted down a Vampire together.


Gun: No idea.... :P

Sydney: No idea...

Darien: No idea...

[Whizbang]

Yeah...no clue how to connect with the team as Darien...even if I might have worked with the Lone Star folks as Starfyre, he's trying not to leave any connections between the two.

[Sphynx]

Sounds like we need GM Guidance then.... :P *ahem*Ecc*Ahem*

[gobogen]