Hysteria

Hysteria

Mind-Shattering Sorceress
"The self, the inner enigma that every living being spends the entirety of their existence attempting to unravel. Some find the illusion of satisfaction with age, others shelter their feeble minds with dogma and religion, most die never finding a satisfying answer. The brave few shatter the thin glass of identity and exist as fragments, pieces of a greater, unknowable whole that can never be truly understood. For that is the true depth of the soul..."
Discord	lheisse
Reddit	Competitive_Snow1989
Wiki User	Juice
Metatype	Human
Street Cred	0
Notoriety	0
Public Awareness	0
CDP	8
D.O.B.	2058-08-16
Age	28
Folder	https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16Yy4lGqqvV4RNLzEuzkSkr-mHAQdBOwJ?usp=sharing
Priority	Metatype - D Attributes - B Magic/Resonance - C Skills - A Resources - E
#Max IGs/Ascension	1

Character Information

Summary

Hysteria is a specter that haunts Seattle, a walking mystery and enigma whose intentions and identity remain inscrutable. What is clear, however, is their power over perception and the mind. Hysteria, as their name implies, is capable of altering the perceptions, thoughts, emotions, and actions of people with their sorcerous power. When they are near, nothing is to be trusted, not even one's own thoughts. They constantly keep their identity concealed, employing several layers of defense against detection. Illusions, technology, magic. If all those fail, their last lines of defense are to either kill whoever ascertains their identity or worm their way into their mind and leech the memory from their mind. While most mages concern themselves with flashy powers and dangerous spirits, Hysteria wields powers that are as insidious as they are potent, infiltrating the minds of their enemies before they even realize they are their enemies. Hysteria will stop at nothing to ensure the Black Lodge's will be done, shifting through identities as easily as a mundane changes outfits, all for the purpose of their mysterious schemes.

Goals

• Manipulate mundane society from the shadows
• Achieve a society that holds awakened above mundanes
• Rise within the ranks of the Black Lodge
• Enlightened the awakened of Seattle with the "truth"
• Maintain complete anonymity

Background

Before Hysteria submerged herself in the depths of their multifarious identities, they were once a she. A young human girl living in the slums of Pallyup. Her frail body left her unfit to survive within the devastated streets of the impoverished district and, to make things worse, racial tensions made the streets even more unsafe for her. In the rugged streets, crime pays, and her parents and siblings were all too eager to follow in the family business of organized crime, joining gangs and making their daily bread with violence and force. Naturally, the frail girl stood out as the family runt, and she endured a childhood of shame and abuse at the hands of her mother and siblings. She was raised on the principle that she was weak, inferior, and worthless, simply a burden. So... the young girl dreamt of being other people. She dreamt of being a pop star, a corpo big wig, or a scary Lone Star officer. Alas, she could not escape her life as it was, and for years she endured, her festering rage and resentment building within her. This would all erupt one fateful day when her eldest brother decided to kick her around for fun. For once in her life, the girl decided that she was done begging, through with pleading. The girl stood and demanded her brother stop. Suddenly... he froze. He was paralyzed, much to both of their surprise. Not content to stop there, the girl let her hatred consume her. She ordered her brother to take out his knife, and, while her siblings watched on with fear and horror, her brother was soon on the floor, bleeding out. This singular moment of control, of catharsis unlike any other overwhelmed her. Her other siblings made the stupid decision to draw their weapons. They only succeeded in hastening their own doom as those weapons were soon made to turn on their wielders.

The girl left behind the corpse of her former life, and lived as a vagabond, exploring her newfound powers. She would flit from tradition to tradition, searching for something that could satisfy her spirit, something she could resonate with. But in each tradition, she only found a cage. The hermetics caged by logic, the spiritualists and zealots caged by dogma, and the shamans caged by superstition. She would not bind herself to any of these comfortable ideologies, but rather she would explore the depths of her magic alone. With raw willpower and ego, she would bring magic to heel, not through logic, dogma, or superstition, but through her own insular might as a magician. When she made this discovery, that magic is not caged by the rules of tradition and the fickle frameworks of modern mages, she caught the attention of something... something ancient. They came to her in dreams, whispering to her dark truths, showing her everything she could be. All those dreams where she envisioned herself powerful, in control, feared, loved... they were all her, and she was all them. She had that power, and she was meant for something far greater than rotting in a slum, wasting her talents like so many others of the awakened. She had gleaned a truth, the most basic and rudimentary truth, but one that most mages are blind to. She had proven herself worthy of their attention, but now... she had to keep it. And so... the girl sunk into the darkness of her psyche, led into the depths by a dark hand, leaving behind all she thought she was. What emerged was Hysteria, a shadow, one that flickered, growing and shrinking, warping and changing. She was reborn, the perfect tool for her hidden masters. She was now what she always wanted to be: everything she never was and all that she could be.

Narrative Significant Qualities

Negative

• Faceless
• Prejudiced (Radical against Mundanes)
• Driven (Bringing about Awakened supremacy)

Run History

Name	GM	Metaplot	Threat	Date of Run
Downstream Liability	Speckgespenst		Medium	5 August 2086
Bonesaw Opera	Asmodeus		Medium	28 June 2086
Shopping Spree	Xaytan		Medium	23 March 2086
Reds & Compressors	Asmodeus		Medium	2 March 2086

Affiliations

Contacts

Contact	Connection	Loyalty	Archetype	Profession	Aspects	Chips
Silas Vespasiano	5	2	Fixer	Black Lodge Fixer	Black Magician, High Society Socialite, Made Man, Politico, Talismonger, Theory Savant	Even
Dr. Miles Thurston	4	2	Custom(K,G,N,A)	Talismonger	Traditionalist, Magical Relics, Professor, Former Museum Curator, Awakened Activist	Even
8ball	1	1	Service	Decker	Data hoarder, Metahuman Interest	Even

Organizations

Contact	Position	Connection	Faction Rep	Archetype	Health	Location
Black Lodge	Agent	4	5	Secret Society	Boosted	Worldwide

In Character Information

Matrix Search Table

Threshold	Result
1	"Protests Downtown today calling for an end to the violence and discrimination against magical and awakened sapients got heated today after protesters claimed Lone Star officers instigated violence with slurs and threats. Lone Star has made the official statement that after reviewing the footage from their officers, quote 'there is no tangible evidence to substantiate these accusations'. More after these sponsors!"
3	"Ferris Carmichael, board member of Horizon, was arrested today after logs show him transferring sensitive data and info to anonymous accounts. Mr. Carmichael maintains and claims to have no memory of transferring any such info. His pre-trial hearing is set for two weeks from today, the 14th."
6	"Fuck! Drek! We need.... fuck I don't know! We need backup! The mercs they just... they just started shooting each other! Just stood up and pulled out their guns! Wait... who the fuck is that? Is that mask gold? Hey, Put your hands up! I won't say it aga-" She cuts off, leaving only heavy breathing for three seconds, then the sound of a gunshot from right next to the commlink

Shadow Community Table

Threshold	Result
1	Hysteria they call "her", at least they assume they are a her. Runners find her unsettling at best, a nightmare at worst. No flashy magics with this one, most of her powers seem rooted in the mind. The general jist is to not try to think too hard about her.
3	They are specifically a sorceress, it seems they distrust spirits and anything that isn't fully in her control. She's bloody ruthless, but bloody effective if you need somewhere infiltrated or someone impersonated. Seems no one has seen under the mask... ever.
5	The Black Lodge. Seems whoever this sorceress is, she has a vested interest in seeing their goals achieved. Seems like she always seems to dismiss anyone who doesn't have a drop of magic in their blood. It ain't the hateful kind of prejudice, but the kind where you get the sense she sees you like one of those bugs in the glass box.

Assensing Table

Threshold	Result
1
2
3
4
5

Appearance

Hysteria has many appearances and wears many faces, some of those who are alive, some dead, and even some who have never existed. But when their appearance is not shrouded by sorcery, they maintain a simple yet imposing appearance. The visage of Hysteria is that of a slightly feminine figure draped in satin, matte-black cloth in an almost religious arrangement, covering their whole body in a formless swathe of cloth. Standing out against this dark background is the gold mask they wear that bears no facial features but two black, void-like eyes that crack their way through the mask. When Hysteria speaks, it is with many voices. What may seem like a high-quality voice monitor is actually Hysteria's real voice, only, they flit between voices, never resting on one long enough for people to get comfortable. Sometimes, they are a sweet woman with a voice like dripping honey, other times, they are a man with a harsh Russian accent. Finally, if any were to ever manage to remove their mask, they would find only a blurred expanse beneath. Hysteria cuts no corners on concealing their true identity from the world.

Matrix Persona

Much like the sorceress themself, their persona often changes as easily as their own identity, but when interacting with ShadowHaven, their persona is that of a figure shrouded by shadow, but where the face should be is a hyper-realistic sun that radiates soft golden light.

Character Plot Hooks

Here are characteristics of the character that GMs may take advantage of to add complications to runs, or to otherwise use when in use. If you want to use them in unrelated to runs, please ask first.

Aspect	Information	Related Run(s)
Aspect 1	Hysteria is a member of the Black Lodge and thus works in their interests and against their enemies.
Aspect 2	Hysteria is an awakened supremacist, and as such strives against mundane meddling in awakened affairs, present examples are the Shedim and the Infected.
Aspect 3	Sharing the Black Lodge's mission, they strive against the apocalyptic horrors that prowl the astral realm and beyond.
Aspect 4	The fragments that remain of their true identity reside in Pallyup, and the girl she once was still lays within their repertoire of identities.
Aspect 5	Hysteria seeks to enlighten other awakened of the ancient truths held by the black lodge, hoping to open their eyes to their true potential.