Final drafts of characters can be sent to me at mcquillan at san.rr.com
Sphynx
[ Spoiler ]
Liam (Loki) McGraw met Raven on his 16th birthday, a little late by some standards, but a meeting that left Liam forever changed. It was a bizarre combination, Dwarf born into Richness who could have had life handed to him on a platter. Raven, the thief totem for the poor. But Liam was never really the typical rich-boy, his father wasn't all that pleased to have had a child of such stature, and Liam had the urge to always prove himself, which he did mostly by less than conventional methods. He loved the stories of Loki, feeling a brethrenship with him, the 2ndary son who had to struggle for his respect, whose only options tended to be those of a more shady nature. However, that was then....
This is now.... 32 years of age, Loki, as he liked to go by, had become a master thief. His inheritance gave him the edge of superior training, though his father didn't know that's what he was learning his magic for. Coupled with a few nice technological devices, he was making his name as one of the best B&E experts in the known world. A name that even had ShadowRunners seeking him out for aide. It was an interesting world, that one in the Shadows, and had appeal, so it wasn't long before Loki entered into the world of the Shadows, a home both he and Raven felt incredibly comfortable in. Here his physical stature didn't mean anything at all, and he could easily garnish the level of respect a man of his skills deserved. His occasional pranksterish act easily forgiven for his results. There was definitely that to be said... it was never boring when Loki was around.
[ Spoiler ]
It wasn't easy growing up for Lin. Born as one of the worlds first elves - if arguably a very human-looking one - in Japan, she never did get along well with the rest of her family. She were protected like her brother and sister, but given only marginal attention, as if the strange mutant would go away if ignored. No tears were shed on either side as soon as Lin reached maturity and went away to Tokyo. She neatly severed all ties to her family after signing up for an aptitude test for a scholarship to enter the university. As an exceptionally talented mathematician, she passed with flying colors and even passed for a human long enough to be enrolled and given a scholarship.
She managed to pay for a meagre living in a campus dormitory, studying like so many others for a year and a half before her professors began suspecting what she were. By then of course, they could not really deny her access to classes. They withdrew the scolarships as best they were able, hoping that this alone would be enough to force the strange freak off-campus. Lin had been suspecting that though, and had landed herself a job as a bartender in a small bar frequented by the local underworld. Studying by day and working by night, she managed to alienate the few students who would still relate to her simply by never being around. Not going anywhere to party meant she could make do on less though, and as her finals approached, her bank account was still in the healthy black numbers.
She graduated at an age of 26, in the summer of 2050, with little ceremony. A few of her professors were there for token appearances. Her family was not invited - nor did she suspect they would have cared to come - and Lin set about trying to find a job to put her not inconsiderable skills to work in.
After trying - and failing - for a year to get a job in one of the most Xenophobic cities in the world when it came to metas, an unexpected offer came from one of the patrons in the bar where she were still working. A simple courier job that paid thrice her normal salary. Lin saw a chance and took it. Her new benefactor were a member of the Yakuza and knew talent when he saw it. Proving a knack for getting in and out where everyone else failed, Lin quickly rose through the ranks - high enough that her superiors did not care much when they eventually suspected she were a meta. The secret behind Lins success were that she were awakened. It was a talent she had suspected for some time, but which never really manifested itself until her time in college.
She proved to have an extrodinary aim, and an almost unnerving affinity for killing people dead. Some might theorize that a lifetime of being spurned by humans left her emotionally distanced enough to kill without blinking, but her superiors didn't care much. They saw a potential for an assassin in her, and were quick to put her to the test. Using her magical tricks, she met and surpassed all expactations until eventually her immediate superior decided to invest in a bioware and cyberware packet for his protege.
Lin never suspected a thing. In the Yakuza, you did not ask questions and by the time she realized what were about to happen, she were already drugged and on her way to the operating table. The operation didn't go without a hitch either. The doctors did not suspect she were awakened until it were too late, leaving her with more scars than strictly necessary. When she came to, Lin were smoldering with cold, determined rage at what had been done to her. Even limited as it were now, her magic, raw talent with firearms and utter lack of compassion for the humans whom she felt had betrayed her, it were a trivial matter to kill her immediate superiors - the only ones who really knew who she were.
Afterwards, she made a break from Japan. America seemed as good a place to go as any, and she had enough nuyen for a ticket to Seattle and a few months worth of living. She joined an informal group of magi, initiating once, but not showing up much save for paying her membership dues. She ran in the shadows between 2060 and 2064 for various fixers, specializing in wetwork, but doing a little of everything. She never did stay with one group long, though she had a good business relationship with many. In the end, she found she could not trust most metahumans farther than the range of her rifle.
[ Spoiler ]
Gwynn Sawyl was born in the Welsh Wild Zone. Despite it being the tamest of the Wild Zones, life still wasn't easy. But to the Sawyl family, it was theirs. They were for the most part left alone aside from the occasional tax collectors.
The concept of taxation didn't really make sense to Gwynn. It wasn't like the government was doing anything for them that they couldn't do themselves. But that was the way it was, and he let it be. At least until Pendragon came.
Pendragon, with his legendary sword Excalibur. The first time Gwynn heard him speak, he knew that the time for change had come. His parents refused to catch the vision, though. They were too afraid of possible repercussions. But how were things supposed to change if you never took a risk?
Gathering together with like minded people, Gwynn took part in a number of strikes against the authority. With his inherent magical abilities to aid him, he quickly rose to prominence in his group. For his superior marksmanship, he was given the name Lleu Llaw Gyffes (Sure-handed Lleu), after the Welsh hero.
As skillful as he might be, eventually the authorities began to close in. It was only by a warning from Pendragon himself that Lleu was able to get out of the country before the net was closed. Lleu was left across the channel, waiting for the heat to die down...
[ Spoiler ]
Ariel is a typical Italian heiress, rich, beautiful, and bored. Her father was a CEO of a large electronics company that got swallowed up by SK when she was very young. While screwing his employees out of any kind of money for loosing their jobs he managed to make himself a huge fortune. In the hundreds of millions of nuyen. Their some what stodgy fortune (just under a hundred million) was quickly tippled and it catapulted them into the Italian aristocracy. Her father had pursued such notoriety for years before finally being able to buy his way in.
Completely unsatisfied with her fathers money and his bought station, Ariel quickly became distant and despondent. She started hanging out in the Roman slums and inviting hordes of the unwashed masses to her house for meals. She seemed to be following the path of being a human right advocate.
One night while volunteering at a homeless shelter a beaten man came in. Ariel quickly helped him to a cot in the back. Not long after the police followed looking for him. Not entirely certain why, Ariel covered for him. After a few days she nursed the older man back to health. He was in his 50’s with rugged good looks.
His name was Alfonzo De’largo, otherwise known as “The Fox”. He was a semi retired cat burglar who acted like a modern day Robin Hood. Ariel couldn’t help but have a great deal of emotion for the man.
As he recovered they developed a mutual attraction, a more father daughter relationship then anything else. Alfonzo took the young girl under his wing, teaching her the ropes of the underworld and of the police.
When she turned 18 she received a rather hefty trust fund from her father. Much to his dismay she chose to use it to fund various projects to help the poor. While most of those where legit she used a few to funnel money into a friend of the Fox. A street doctor who more than happy to go to work on the Italian beauty.
For the next two years she worked as a sort of intern to the Fox. The two of them managed to steal just about ever thing under the sun. With a suitable successor now able to continue his cause, and her own, Alfonzo revealed a secret to the young girl. He was not the original Fox.
The original Fox had been born in Madrid in 1990. And had been practicing his trade until the 2040’s when he met Alfonzo. After a few years of training The original Fox passed the mantle down, as he was about.
Alfonzo retired to a small island and obscurity. Ariel embraced her new role for the good of the people, and her own self worth.
[ Spoiler ]
Rich Hopkins grew up in a good, wholesome home. His father worked security for Ares, while his mom stayed home to take care of the kids. He always did well in school and had tons of friends. But, there was always something wrong about him. He just never seemed to be happy and no one ever knew why. He would have times where he was social and got along with everyone, then others where he would draw back and not want anyone near him.
He went on to Yale and did well for himself there. More and more, he grew distant from the rest of society. He would still have manic states from time to time and he started to struggle with the idea that he may have a form of multiple personality disorder. Just after graduation, a CIA recruiter came to him and offered him a job.
Rich jumped on it. He always dreamed of doing the spy stuff and this gave him an outlet for his mental state. Every day he could be someone different if he really wanted to. He also got to be very very good at what he did. He could get in an out of enemy areas without ever being seen, which in time earned him the nick name of Wraith.
After a while though, his boss patting him on the back just wasn't enough to fulfill him. He started to see that a lot of the information he came across would be worth a lot of money to the right people. For two years he worked both sides of the law and made a lot of money for himself. But like all things, this too had to end.
When he started to suspect that the agency was catching on to his act, Wraith went underground. He had planned for the day this would happen. He made one phone call to a friend of his and like that, Rich Hopkins was dead, as the decker wiped all records of Wraith's old life and initiated the life of Dean Malis, Wraith's new identity. Wraith moved to Seattle after laying low for a while, where he knew his skills would come in handy within the shadows.
[ Spoiler ]
John always knew that he was different than the others, even from childhood. While the rest of his siblings were distracted by butterflies and flickering shadows, he would sit still, uninterested in these games, thinking about things beyond the ability of even his mother to understand. It marked him as very much the odd one out in his litter. It was especially hard for him when his mother abandoned him and his siblings, feeling that they were old enough to be on their own. Although tigers were solitary by nature, _he_ craved companionship, but others had very little patience for one whose mind could never stay focused on the all important necessities of food and safety. Because, his 'language's' sole purpose was centered around events in the here and now, it was usually impossible for him to even begin describing the things he was trying to think about, making his daydream all the more useless.
Then he discovered the humans. Even with the Awakening and advent of the sixth world, life had changed very little in the far corners of rural China. He watched as the bipedal inhabitants of the village engaged in the most interesting activities. Because they kept livestock, it became very easy for him to laze around watching them all day, raiding their chickencoops at night. Doing so made him feel guilty though, because the following day he would see how angry his raids made them, and sometimes men with metal and sticks would come looking for him.
He didn't like that, and thought that if he made a show of deference, they would accept his presence like they did the many small cats he saw living in the village. So he went out hunting, bringing down a fine, buck deer and dragging it into the village in the middle of the day, to leave at the entrance of the lair where the man everyone deferred to lived.
The reaction was not at all what he'd anticipated, with the shouting, screaming, and running. He laid his ears back against his head, but waited for the tumult to lie down, completely surprised when the net came down over his head. That just made everything worse, until calm was restored by an ancient man, whom everyone deferred to despite his absolute lack of physical presence. He declared the tiger a spirit envoy from the Yellow Emperor, sent as a blessing to the village.
The old man took him to his home. He seemed to understand John, but John could not say anything back and he wanted to try and speak back to the old man so badly it became the only thought in his mind. Suddenly he found himself sitting on the floor, in the form of a human child. As time passed, the old wujen taught him to speak, the human way of life, and adopted him as a grandson. John's greatest treasure were the gold rimmed glasses his grandfather used to wear (although the old man was now blind), but gifted to the curious boy. Wearing them made him feel like he had become a genuine human.
Unfortunately, although the village was far off in the hinterlands, it was not cut off completely from the rest of the world, and word eventually reached the right(wrong) ears about the tiger 'shifter living there. A megacorporate team was sent to acquire him. They hadn't expected any resistance from such a backwater locale, and did not know that John's grandfather was a Wujen. In the resulting melee, John was captured, and his grandfather was killed. He was put on a boat with a corporate shipment, which was attacked by pirates just after it reached the ocean. Since they had no awakened support, he was able to talk the pirates into letting him go, although they included the caveat that if he wanted to live, he'd have to join them, and kill the rest of the crew to prove his loyalty. Several members of the team that captured him were part of the crew, and it amazed him how _good_ it felt cutting their throats.
Life wasn't much better as a pirate. They'd been fleeing trouble in Africa, and with the corporate hit they'd just pulled, needed to keep fleeing across the Pacific. They spoke very little Chinese, and entertained themselves by abusing their diminutive new deckhand. He forced himself to keep his temper under control. He knew he was at their mercy for the moment, but he would not forget their disrespect. By the time the ship reached the territory of the Big Sur, John was an accepted member of the crew, and considered a full member of the brotherhood by the time the ship passed through the Panama canal, setting course for the caribbean. Because of his proven talent for interacting with people, he was one of the members sent out to get a feel for the pirating community. What he did was sell them out to their corporate enemies for a hefty payoff, manipulating the crew to be at the right place, at the right time, for him to watch the hammer fall.
He slipped into the CAS, settling into the outskirts of New Orleans where he would actually be among the least of the oddities. It was during this time that he discovered the wonders of digital libraries. His time amongst the pirates had taught him how little he really knew about the world, and they hadn't been ready teachers, but a simple set of 'trodes opened it all up to him. He devoured philosophy, history, sociology, philosophy, supplementing his finances as needed with a little creative larceny. If there was one thing his experiences had taught him, was that few humans had any qualms about preying on each other, so why should he? What he didn't realize was that his activities weren't quite as unobserved as he'd thought they were, and one day he was offered an 'invitation' to take part in a covert operation against a local drug lord. It turned out to be an ultimate deniable asset run, and he was the only survivor, barely. He had to go underground after that, as he planned his revenge against the fixer who had put him under the hammer. This ended with the man and his family trapped in an Americar rigged with incendriaries, and him on the run from the fixer's allies. He had a few contacts still on his side, and they helped him get as far from New Orleans as possible. Neither Seattle or anywhere in the UCAS topped his list of places where he wanted to be, but he wasn't in any position to be choosey.
Setting up in Seattle was not as hard as he'd expected it would be. He'd had to leave his old name, Bao Lao Hu behind, taking the name of John Calvin after a religious philospher whose works he admired. He had to be very careful to keep under the radar, but his natural ability to get along with people smoothed some things along, and helped him work his way into the Shadowrunning game, on his own terms this time.
in Spell Formulas
