Basilisk

Basilisk

Sneaky Snek Sniper
Could use a real gun, prefers to be toxic
Discord	@Archtmag7836
Reddit	[1]
Metatype	Elf Changeling
Street Cred	0
Notoriety	0
Public Awareness	0
CDP	28
D.O.B.	4/17/2054
Age	31
Folder	[2]
Priority	Metatype - D Attributes - B Magic/Resonance - A Skills - C Resources - E

Character Information

Summary

Basilisk is a changeling adept, specializing in stealthy assassination and infiltration, with a keen interest in toxins of all forms. Having been burned on the job and branded a terrorist in her old area of operations, she traveled northward and assumed a new identity, eager to build herself back up and strike back against those who harmed her.

She mainly uses her venom to kill, finding a poetic beauty in it. While she mainly uses a dart gun, she's still quite skilled in a more direct application.

Goals

• Build up Connections: This is a new place for me, and I barely know anyone, professionally or otherwise. I really need to expand my network. Tanya is nice and all, but I could really use some better contacts.

• Acquire Money: It's a basic drive, but it brings so much. With more money, I can get better gear, better opportunity's, and ultimately, a better life.

• Help Changelings: We're the only ones who will look out for each other. The only ones that will truly care. Others supported me in the past. It's time for me to do the same.

• Get Revenge: Betrayal has been a constant in my life, but they will all pay dearly for their actions, one day.

Background

Isabella was born in the southern region of the California Free State, to somewhat subpar parents. While, not abusive, they were distant and honestly unfit bear their role. Still, children tend to love their parents, and little Isabella was no different. While not the ideal, her first few years of life were decent, sinless, but still better than most around her. Unfortunately, things change. The arrival of Haley's comet in 2061 caused countless people to SURGE and at the age of seven, Isabella was one of them. A painful and traumatic experience, she was on the young end of those that experienced, but she adapted to her new form with surprising acceptance. Children are used to change. Adults often don't.

While Isabella herself was rather delighted by her new form, at least once the memories of the change blurred enough, the people around her, both her friends and strangers often weren't. While painful, the worst reaction came from her parents. To say they reacted poorly would be an understatement. While their initial disgust and revulsion seemed to fade away rather quickly, it left a cold distance behind it, leaving Isabella adrift and alone.

One day, her parents took her on a trip. Told they were going on a family trip to the mountains, Isabella was ecstatic, certain that her parents had forgiven her for what she'd done wrong, that they'd love her again. Brimming with joy, she was more than eager to keep watch on their campsite, as her parents promised to make a quick trip to grab something they forget. She was a little scared, but she knew she was a big girl and that she'd make her parents proud. As she kept watch, the hours started to tick by as night approached. Slowly the bitter truth began to sink in. She had been abandoned. Her parents were never coming back.

For most, that might have been the end, but Isabella had a secret, one that she kept even from her parents. In the time since she SURGED, she had become more. Senses open to the energies around her, a feeling of connection with the world, Isabella had awakened. By reaching out to the flow of life around her and drawing it inward, she found herself capable of feats that she could have never imagined. Fearful of people further despising her, she hid all aspects of her gift, practicing only in the dead of night, testing her limits as fleeting glimpses of a scaled figure danced around her.

As Isabella despaired, crying at her betrayal and heartbreak, the figure returned. A great shifting serpent, it's scales gleaming gently in the dying light, it surrounded her, whispering an ultimatum and a promise. Grow or die, strive forward towards greatness or fall and be forgotten. While her life had been hard, she could rise above and pay her vengance upon those who had wronged her. Ultimately, the choice was hers, as there was no ordained fate or fairness to the world, only the work of the strong and the submission of the weak. All these things the Serpent spoke to Isabella, offering a life of pain, hardship, and sacrifice, but perhaps, if she was worthy, ascension. As the Serpent's whispers began their work, Isabella's tears dried and her heart hardened, the question answered without a word.

Their coils tightening, the Serpent began to mold Isabella, irrevocably tieing their paths. Isabella learned to harness her natural abilities and adept powers to ruthless and deadly effect. Serpent's lessons taught the unforgiving and brutal nature of the world, that Isabella was promised nothing, that power was the only truth. Ultimately, still small and weak even with her gifts, Isabella learned to hide from the eyes of predators, while dulling her empathy when the time arose, striking swiftly and without mercy when the time arose. Her venom became a symbol of her salvation, the source of her meals and her salvation when the monster caught her scent.

After several months in the wilderness, Isabella managed to roam back to civilization, slowly making her way to the center of the region, Los Angeles. As she traveled along the underbelly of society, the lessons she learned in the wild were just as applicable. The form of the threat shifted, but the truth of the world was constant.

Unfortunately, no child can live a life like this unscathed, and after a rather nasty incident, she found herself heavily wounded. While alone she might have perished, a man passed by her, a changeling. Different in form than her yet marked all the same, he immediately cared for her, nursing her back to health. Marked by birdlike features, the man, going simply by John, provided the first actual affection that she'd felt in months. Her snakelike body didn't bother him, nor the fact that she was a nameless urchin. In the end as she learned, Changelings looked out for one another.

As she healed from her injuries, she discovered a new cause in life beyond simple survival. She had a community, full of people that were like her, that she could truly belong to. While many of them were likely weak, the sort that lived and died at the whims of their betters, that was no problem. After all, the truest lesson of the Serpent is those who can, do as they choose. Isabella had found her cause. One day, she would build a society where changelings could exist and thrive, by any means necessary.

As Isabella grew, she bounced around the changeling communities of LA, supporting herself by diving steadily deeper in crime. First petty theft, then burglary, and the finally, finding her true calling, assassination. Growing into a competent and notorious assassin, she became known as Silencio, leaving a trail of envenomated bodies in her wake. As she rose in stature in the underworld, she worked as best she could to give back to her community, taking jobs to advance their interests and providing resources to support it.

Eventually, in 2081, she was offered her biggest contract yet. Given by a mysterious backer, she was tasked with assassinating the newly elected Mayor of Los Angeles, Luisa Abellán. Abellán, a former civil rights leader turned political reformist, promised a rollback of corporate power and a push against organized crime, garnering a wide range of enemies, though gaining the people's acclaim. With a lucrative payment promised, Silencio took the contract, assassinating her in the manner ordered, her venom killing the Mayor live as she delivered as speech. As the city descended into chaos, rather than the reward she had been promised, she was burned by her employer. Framed as a changeling terrorist, acting alone to send a message, the police were given tips to track her down and a story to believe.

In a desperate drive to get out of the city, having to leave most of her possessions behind, Isabella managed to make her way back into the wilderness calling again on the skills of her childhood. In the time since, she traveled northward, trying to throw off the trail of her pursuers. Having arrived in Seattle, a place miserable for people like her, she found a place to hide in the Redmond changeling community, one strange face among many. With a chance to breathe, it's time for Isabella to rebuild her position and strike back against those who cross her.

Qualities

Sorry that I wrote so much here. Kind of got carried away. Big important ones qualities narratively are Wanted and Mentor Spirit. Cold-blooded isn't really narratively focused, but it might also come up a lot.

Changeling

Basilisk is a Class III changeling, transformed into a being that can only be described as a snake in metahuman form. Both her physiology, and to some extent her mindset, have been radically altered from the non-snakey norm.

Positives:

Changelings are the future after all

• Broadened Auditory System (Ultrasound): Basilisk can hear pitches that normal metahumans could never hope to. It's useful for her infiltrations, though quite annoying around dog whistles.

• Fangs, Natural Venom: Basilisk is extremely venomous, and a bite from her could put almost anyone in the grave.

• Vomeronasal Organ: Basilisk's sense of smell is extremely enhanced, and with a flick of her tongue she can taste the fear of her quarry or track them as they flee.

• Thermal Sensitivity: She doesn't just stop at scents though, her unique physiology allowing her to sense the heat of nearby objects.

Negatives:

Allegedly. You're just jealous of my features.

• Cold-blooded, Slow Healer: Basilisk's metabolism is coldblooded and slow, requiring the heat of her surroundings to work. This can be a challenge in the misty city of Seattle.

• Scales: Basilisk is covered in gleaming scales, something that is easily obvious to any observer.

• Nocturnal: Basilisk naturally falls into a nocturnal sleep schedule. The colder temperatures can be annoying, but her enhanced senses give her an edge in the dark that's worth it.

• Impaired Attribute(Charisma): Apparently most people find her snake-like features and somewhat strange mannerisms to be unnerving. Basilisk doesn't see their issues. If anything, they're the ugly ones.

• Critter Spook: Basilisk is a natural predator and animals around her instinctively are aware of that. It doesn't help them get away.

Positive

• Poisoner: Basilisk is well acquainted with toxins of all types and can use them to their greatest effect.

• Mentor Spirit: Serpent (Shark mechanically) - As Basilisk learned to survive, visions of a scaled creature began to flow around her. Shifting and ever moving, the Serpent whispers the truth of the world, that it is harsh and unforgiving. The only way to survive, to exist beyond the mercy of others, is to be strong enough to do what is necessary, by any means necessary. While a cold and brutal teacher, she cares not what power is used for, for those who are able to inflict their will on the world have the right to do so as they see fit.

Negative

• Dependent (Inconvenience): It turns out that society isn't designed for snake people, and Basilisk has to spend a bit more to adapt. Things like scale care products and buying food for her more specialized, aka carnivorous, diet add up, not to mention the costs of keeping her apartment toasty year round.

• Disheveled: Fashion designers apparently don't account often for a bright green complexion. Many nicer clothes tend to look a bit odd on her, if she even tries to dress up that is.

• Favored, Outspoken - Changelings: Basilisk has never had much support from the "normal" people of society. The only ones who have ever really cared for her are her fellow kind. She cares deeply about other Changelings, and will go out of her way to trust and aid them, even if sometimes it hurts her.

• Wanted - PCC, 200k Nuyen, Target: "Silencio": Basilisk was burned by her employer after assassinating the newly elected Mayor of Los Angeles, Luisa Abellán, in 2081. Framed to look like an act of political terrorism, it resulted in a large bounty being placed on her.

Run History

Name	GM	Metaplot	Threat	Date of Run
A Mundane Hunting Trip	Aurora			27 June 2083
Live Fast, Die Young	Aurora		Medium	23 June 2083
A Strike Against House Christobal	Aurora		Deadly	17 February 2083
The Security Penetration Testing That Was Actually A Bug-Trap All Along	Aurora		Extreme	17 November 2082
In The Plastic Jungles	Aurora		Medium	23 August 2082
Across the Line	Sarcarian		High	18 August 2082
The Mantis Revealed	Aurora		High	17 August 2082
Chestnuts Out of the Fire	Sarcarian	A Scattering of Deadly Petals	Medium	14 July 2082
Back To Basilisk Basics	Aurora		Medium	30 June 2082
A Box Within A Box	Scranton	I Make Things Happen	Medium	5 June 2082
Of the Goddess of Love	OrionsRequiem		Medium	31 May 2082
Mack and Hack: Ride or Die	Explosions		Medium	20 May 2082
The Love Of An Uncle	ScrantonAnchor		Medium	9 May 2082
Blood Kite Eggs	Aurora	Baker Wars	High	4 May 2082
Macuahuitl Man Manumitting	Isaac		Medium	28 April 2082

Affiliations

Contacts

Contact	Connection	Loyalty	Archetype	Profession	Aspects	Chips
Tanya	2	2	Fixer	OtherCon Advocate	Unreliable, Nutty, Lorax, Bubbly Buddy-Buddy, SURGE Sympathizer	Even
Christian Woods	4	1	Gear	Pharmacy Technician	Chemist, Medical Training, College Student, Pharmacy Technician, EVO Employee	Even
Darla Geas	2	3	Gear	Techno Adept Sculptor	You're so... Uninspired, Flash of inspiration, Studio regulars, Technomancers stick together, So, uh, where'd you get all these limbs?	Even
Captain Madeline Palermo	5	1	Gear	Black Market Armorer	Ares Macrotechnology, Armorer, Ex-Firewatch, Firearms, Laser Weapons, Milspec Gear	Even

In Character Information

Matrix Search Table

Threshold	Result
1	Pictures and information on the Basilisk, an awakened animal. Also, stories on the mythological basilisk.
3	Pictures of someone matching Basilisk's description hanging around the OtherCon community, sometimes helping with things.
6	A trail of mysterious envenomations is pieced together, leading back to Los Angeles. That, coupled with the distinctive killing of the mayor, means it's likely that Basilisk is the terrorist Silencio. There's also potential that records of Basilisk's early life and reported disappearance can be found as well.

Shadow Community Table

Threshold	Result
1	A recently arrived runner to the Seattle scene. A snake changeling that uses a dart gun and an unknown neurotoxin.
3	A trained and experienced assassin, Basilisk has few scruples, but appears to care deeply about changelings.
4	Basilisk is actually Silencio, a changeling terrorist from Los Angeles. She gained notoriety for assassinating the newly elected mayor of Los Angeles during a public event.
5	While calling her a changeling terrorist is honestly fairly accurate, the official story regarding the events seems off. Something is up.

SINs

Lisa Murdow - (Rating 3 - UCAS) w/Adept License

Appearance

Clothing

For everyday wear, she wears rather cheap clothes currently, covered by a hooded poncho. She generally tries to not broadcast her features outside of changeling communities.

During runs, she generally wears her chameleon suit.

Matrix Persona

She looks like a naga, to mix it up.