Here's the face. Kind of a femme fatale. After I was
done with her, it occurred to me that a covert ops/disguise master type of face would probably have been better. Oh well, she'll fit in with the rest of the pink mohawk crew we've got going here, anyways.
1. What is your character's Sex?
Female.
2. What is your character's physical size?
Petite and curvy for an elf, but medium height and slightly slender by human standards.
3. What is the color of the character's hair, eyes, and skin?
She has wavy, medium-length chestnut hair (usually worn loose, but sometimes in a French braid, or held back in a scrunchie), soft amber eyes, and a perfect peaches-and-cream complexion. She usually wears understated but artfully applied cosmetics. She has glo-tatts that are burnished gold, serpentine designs.
4. What is the character's general appearance (i.e., How does she dress, etc.)?
Laura dresses to fit in, but not necessarily to blend in. Whether it be denim and synthleather, a cocktail dress, or a tailored business suit, Laura draws people's eyes to her. She has a delicately beautiful face, a warm smile, and a voice like spun honey. She has a sweet and innocent quality about her, even when she is doing things that are far from sweet or innocent.
5. Where was the character born (City, State, Hospital Name)?
Laura was born in the upcale Oakes Clinic, in Ballard, in the Seattle metroplex.
6. What is the character's date of birth?
November 12th, 2044.
7. What was the character's family life like?
Laura's father was a Tir exile, married to a high society human woman (but you still got the impression that he thought he had married down). She was a bit of a spoiled brat growing up, and was obviously the favored child of her father (her two older brothers were born human, and her father treated both them and her mother with condenscension). She started to rebel against her father's attitude in her teen years, and when she found out that he was actually involved in a number of very unsavory businesses, it shocked her to the core, and made her reexamine all of her previous attitudes.
8. Has the charcter begun her own family?
No. Laura is not ready to settle down with just one person yet, much less start a family.
9. Where or how was the charcter educated?
Laura's education was a mix of tutors and semi-exclusive private schools, where she showed an early aptitude for singing and dance - and she was also a charming little minx. She dreamed of being a star, but her awakening complicated this (anti-awakened prejudice being strong, especially in the wake of a few bands and such who actually DID practice things like mind control, or using a crowd to power a ritual). Then came her discovery of her father's involvement in organlegging and other unsavory activities, an unpleasant confrontation, and her decision to run away. Her father could have brought her back in - he still had considerable power at that time - but chose, instead, to destroy her SIN and get her blacklisted from the few companies that would consider employing an awakened entertainer.
Perhaps he thought that life on the streets would break her, or send her crawling back, but she managed to survive. She made a living stripping in unsavory clubs, along with other hustles and schemes, learning a whole new set of lessons - those of the streets. She learned how to be sneaky, how to defend herself when she had to, and how to use her social and dancing skills in a completely different environment. Eventually, she graduated from street hustler to full-fledged runner.
10. Has the character ever done anything else for a living?
She has been a dancer and sometime sex worker, as well as assorted small-time cons. Her work as a runner is only the culmination of this, moving up from the streets to the big time.
11. What are the character's political and religious beliefs?
Laura is pretty cynical politically, believing that the system is rigged and the only way to change things is to work for it behind the scenes. She is strongly supportive of metahuman rights, though, including sapient creatures, free spirits, and AIs (but drawing the line at ghouls, who are more like plague victims than an oppressed minority).
Religiously, she is follows a feel-good deism where everything is groovy. She will freely mix liberal theology, pop psychology, and gross simplifications (if at least positive ones...) of the beliefs of other religions.
12. Describe the character's moral code. Include how mercenary she is, whether or not she'll kill innocents, etc.
Laura finds most laws to be biased, unfair, and stupid. She only pays enough attention to them to evade them. The more subtle rules of social networks are far more meaningful to her - although she will flout societal norms that she finds to be racist or prudish. She is a soft touch for someone in trouble, and will work "hooding" runs - her social abilities help her to sniff out people trying to take advantage of her, though. She has little problem with criminal activities, but flinches from wetwork, and prefers any violence at all as an absolute last resort. When it is unavoidable, though, she acts with utter ruthlessness - she can fall apart later, after she has survived.
She is promiscuous but fickle, avoiding any potential long-term relationships. In relationships, and everyday dealings with people in general, she is genuinely nice and caring. She has a mild submissive/exhibitionist kink that she occasionally indulges, perhaps as a relief from mentally manipulating and dominating people as a runner.
She disdains drugs as a crutch, and disdains simsense as living someone else's life by proxy - she has no problem with other people's vices, though. She certainly doesn't have the sanctimonious attitude of some "straight edge" people (she isn't really straight edge, though - she drinks socially and loves coffee and energy drinks).
13. What are the character's goals?
Laura is starting to realize that she can't change the world - but at least she can make a few corners of it a bit brighter.
14. Why does the character run the shadows? (Why does she run the shadows still, rather than getting a "real" job?)
Laura didn't have too many non-illegal options for making a living at first. Now that she has made it in the shadows, she feels no need to go back to the hypocrisy and stiffling confines of high society.
15. What kind of personality does your character have? This should not necessarily be obviously stated in the background, as it is more important for actually playing the character, but it may colour or add mood to the history.
Laura is tougher, and less innocent, than she looks, but she is still a genuinely nice, cheerful person. Her first instinct is to befriend people, but she can also cut people down with a few deftly chosen words if she needs to.
16. What special qualities does the character possess? This does not refer to skills, but rather to other things, such as how she gets along with people, whether she plans ahead, etc.
Laura is a real social animal, who thrives on social networking and making people happy.
17. Are there certain things that the character can't or won't do? Why?
Laura finds it easy to make casual friends, but doesn't have nearly as many close friends, and treasures the ones she does have. She would never participate in organlegging or human trafficking, and has lost potentially valuable underworld contacts because she learned that they were involved in such things, and refused to deal with them.
18. What things, people, or ideas does the character hate?
Laura hates bigots of all stripes, especially elven ones like the Tir (and her father). She hates the corporations and underworld organizations that despoil the earth, or sell people as slaves, or spare body parts, all so they can make more and more grubby money, even though they already have plenty.
19. What things people, or ideas does the character love?
Laura likes hitting the hot night spots, especially the adrenaline rush that she gets from dancing. She doesn't really need to work the stage any longer, but will still occasionally do so. She likes parties, hooking up with people, rallies to support meta-rights, and going out with a group of friends.
20. What is the character's name? Give both full birth name, as well as nicknames, street names, etc.
Her "real" name is Laurana Talis, Laura to people she knows - her fake ID lists her as Laura Grey, and her street name is Syren.
21. Determine what your character used to do, before becoming a shadowrunner (very important).
Laura worked at some of the seedier night clubs, the ones that didn't check for SINs and paid certified cred, as well as occasional sex work and whatever odd jobs and hustles she could pull off. She was often used as a lure or a distraction, roles that she still plays as a runner.
22. Decide why your character left her old job, if she had one (also important).
Her previous jobs were forced upon her by desperate circumstances, and she is glad to be higher on the food chain now.
23. Come up with a reason for why the character became a shadowrunner. (This very often will tie in with #22. This is not the same as #14, but rather why she started running the shadows originally. What led her to it?)
Shadowrunning was simply the natural evolution of her career of shady and/or criminal activities.
24. How did your character come to know her contacts? Contacts are an important part of Shadowrun, decide how and why you know them.
Brent, Fixer (5 Connection/3 Loyalty) is a cadaverously thin man in the latest fashions (the latest tacky ones, that is), accompanied by two leather-clad androgynous elven bodyguards. He likes to chat amiably about inconsequential things, but he is a hard-nosed negotiater. His clients all know "Brent's first rule": don't bring Brent trouble (extremely hot merchandise, dropping his name to the wrong people), and he will do all right by you, although remember "Brent's second rule": Brent is not Santa.
Harry Tendo, Hacker (2 Connection/2 Loyalty) is a grinning young Japanese man with multi-colored punk hair which seems out of place with his conservative suit. He was a hacker working for Yamatetsu, before getting into trouble. Now he designs Matrix games, and possibly more illicit activities. Laura occasionally augments Harry's finances for a bit of research or minor hacking.
Big Bobby, Media Producer (4 Connection/2 Loyalty) is a smarmy dwarf who likes loud ties and overbearing cologne. He knows his nickname is partly mocking, but he treats it like adoration from his vassals. He is a bit ribald and insinuating for some people's tastes, but he has decent connections and knows lots of gossip about the business.
Coldhand Jake, Nightclub Owner (4 Connection/2 Loyalty) is the owner of The Comedy, a four story superclub in a old SE downtown reclaimed warehouse. Strip club in the basement, restaurant/classy bar on ground floor, rave hall upstairs, VIP above that. Friends and trusted runners are even invited to the 5th floor penthouse, where Jake, Mei and Calista live, and cook a mean dinner to discuss work over. Laura used to dance there, after she had gotten some fake ID and some biomods that made her even more in demand as a dancer. She still goes there occasionally, since the place is a known runner hangout, and she finds Jake to be a decent sort for his line of work.
Buddy Big Bear, Paramed Shaman (2 Connection/2 Loyalty) is a huge troll with a long, shaggy beard, but despite his appearance he is actually a reasonably good EMT and even better at traditional tribal medicine and magical healing. She has known Buddy long enough to use him when a run goes south and she needs a doctor she can really trust.
25. Does the character have a SIN? Does the character actually use it? Or is the character one of the SINless masses? This may be affected by the character's previous employment.
Laura has never had a SIN, but she does have fake ID and other paperwork now.
26. Is the character a full-time shadowrunner? Or does the character lead a Batman-like double existence?
Laura is a full-time runner.
27. Which person(s) or group(s) do you love the most?
She typically has a lot of people she hangs out with, but develops a few close friends. She has repaired her relationship with her mom, but her two brothers are still cold towards her.
28. Which person(s) or group(s) do you hate the most?
She hates organleggers, human traffickers, and others who treat human beings like THINGS. She also despises bigotry in all forms.
29. Which person(s) or group(s) do you respect the most?
She respects groups like MOM that succeed by nonviolent, grass-roots activism. She supports more radical meta-rights groups, but doesn't always approve of their tactics.
30. Which person(s) or group(s) do you fear the most?
She fears all of the wack jobs out there - policlubs, cults, and the like. She can't predict what they will do, like she can for other people, and they are also often immune to her abilities, because they have been brainwashed to the point where she can't even BEGIN to talk to them. She also fears mindless things like devil rats or feral ghouls.
31. What is your favourite colour?
White, especially lace.
32. What is your favourite food and/or drink?
Laura likes hydroponic produce and Tir wine, although she is very embarassed about the latter, considering her low opinion of the Tir in general.
33. What place would you most like to visit?
She would like to tour the NAN wilderness areas someday.
34. Which person(s) or group(s) are you most loyal to?
Laura is fiercely loyal to friends. She also will help people down on their luck or in trouble. She feels more solidarity with regular people (shopowners, etc.) than with those who prey on them, part of the reason that she holds the underworld syndicates in the same disdain that she feels for the corportations.
35. What pastime (that you participate in regularly) gives you the most enjoyment? (Warning: Answering Sex for this question can and will result in penalties to your character!)
Laura loves to dance, and loves spending time with friends.
36. What pastime (that you participate in regularly) gives you the least enjoyment?
She hates violence, especially when it is up close and personal. She also doesn't like it when she needs to use her sexuality to manipulate someone as part of a job.
37. What annoys you the most?
People are intolerant, people who are so close-minded that you can't even get them to LISTEN to you.
38. What (if any) is your favourite form of art?
Dancing is her main joy in life, and she also enjoys karaoke.
39. What is your greatest goal?
To leave the world a slightly better place for her having been in it - she would like to instigate some kind of major social upheaval, sure, but she's realistic about that actually ever happening.
40. What do you think is your characters best quality?
Her genuinely nice and caring nature.
41. What do you think is your characters worst quality?
Love and tolerance are fine, but sometimes complex social problems are not as simply solved as that.
42. What is the most important thing you have ever done?
She exposed the illegal kidnapping and experimentation being carried out by a Renraku subsidiary, testing a new kind of psychotropic simsense on squatters, nearly being victimized herself in the process. The subsidiary was purged and the offenders hung out to dry when the news broke - Renraku was shocked (yeah, right) at this abuse by the subsidiary VP.
43. Which religion (if any) do you follow?
An eclectic mish-mash of feel-good philosophy.
44. What is your most treasured possession (and why)?
She has an old class ring on a charm bracelet - it reminds her of a more innocent time, before the unpleasant revelations that turned her life upside-down.
45. What are your three most common dreams?
> Dancing on a landscape of cotton candy-colored clouds, feeling the warm sun on her bare skin.
> In a nightclub or at a party, where everyone is talking is a language that she can't understand, and she has the feeling that they are saying things that are very important. She wakes up feeling frustrated.
> A nightmare of being pursued by ravenous ghouls. She has a shotgun in her hands, but the creatures seem to heal the wounds nearly instantly. She wakes up, heart pounding, right as they are about to catch her. She had this dream fairly often when she was living on the streets, but has it only very rarely now.
46. What is the Character's current relationship with her family?
Her father has more or less disowned her, not even interested in further revenge on her, and she feels the same level of indifference to his fate. She has salvaged a relationship with her mother, but it is still awkward, and there are a lot of potential land mines that they tacitly avoid talking about for now. Her brothers are still cold towards her, though, and she gets the feeling that both of them consider her something of an embarassment now.
47. If the character's family is still alive, what do they do, and where do they live?
Her father's organization was dismantled when they went head to head with the even more ruthless Tamanous organization. The last she heard, he had fled to France. Her mom is still a socialite, if a bit on the outs with the fashionable crowd still. Her two brothers are both mid-level business managers at Ares, even though one of them is currently in Pueblo territory, and the other one is in Denver.
48. Where did the character learn her Skills?
Private school and tutors, then the streets and the school of hard knocks. She got actual (if informal) instruction for some of her skills, such as learning how to shoot, and the dangerous art of using a monofilament whip.
49. Does the character have a good luck charm? What is it, and why?
No. She used to have a "lucky coin", but lost it.
50. What type of music does the character like?
Fluffy pop music, trance, and new age, although she doesn't mind any other kind of dance club music.
51. List any past serious relationships that your character has had, and give a brief overview of the relationship.
None, really. She has had a few people get creepy and obsessive about her, which has only made her more leery of getting seriously involved with anyone. She has had plenty of short-term relationships, and on-again, off-again lovers, though.
52. Where does your character live? Why does she live there?
Laura's current place is a tiny studio apartment in an unassuming brownstone in Tacoma, with boosted utilities that are always on, great security, and surprisingly reliable protection from the local gang. The apartment itself is obsessively neat (the housekeeping bot is top-notch), if a bit spartan other than a King-sized bed. She really doesn't spend that much time there. There are a few homey touches such as lace throw pillows, stuffed animals, etc.
53. Remember, your Gamemaster like detail, so if you can think of any other little details, quirks, or whatever that you think might please the almight GM, then add them in as well. Oh, and your GM won't use any of these details against you at a later date. trust me...
Or just all three at once.
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Panther cannons tickle.
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