Wychking
 | |
| Player | Asmodeus |
|---|---|
| Metatype | Troll (Giant Metatype) |
| Street Cred | 17 |
| Notoriety | 0 |
| Public Awareness | 13 |
| Titles and Awards | 0 |
| CDP | 26 |
| D.O.B. | 10.02.2046 |
| Age | 38 |
| Folder | [1] |
| Priority | Metatype - A Attributes - E Magic/Resonance - A Skills - E Resources - C |
Background
Savo is not a fun place to live in the Sixth World. The Bible Belt southern states equivalent of Finland, it's full of remote towns full of hicks that most people wouldn't really miss if they just disappeared into thin air. And yet, that's where Taru grew up, for better or for worse. Originally an Erika designer child, more specifically a prototype military template in response to constant tensions with Russia, a daring shadowrun funded in part by a researcher that grew a conscience and political funding from the True Finns got her 2-year old self out of an infant nursery facility and off grid to live with other giants as an adopted, SINless child. While she grew up as quietly as she could, sticking to those she trusted and remembering to keep her abilities hidden, she made the mistake of falling in love as a stupid nineteen-year old brat and ran off with her girlfriend into the forests of Central Finland. This didn't get the privilege of being a long-lasting relationship.
As avid hikers, the two of them found an ancient Winter War-era bunker and went looking inside, only to spy chitinous forms within. Stumbling into a nascent insect spirit nest, they tried to run for it but Taru's significant other was stabbed right through the gut with a spear-like forelimb. It was then, shoulder jammed against the front door and desperately trying to keep the things inside from coming out, holding her dying girlfriend in her arms and filled with panic that she heard a voice in her head. A voice offering help. Power. Salvation. The power to make a difference. It warned of a price, of a cost to this power, but Taru didn't listen. She took it in a heartbeat and with a jolt of ice cold chills down her spinal cord, Awakened her latent ability. This was later noted to be purely accidental and it's still unknown what about her genetics allowed her to Awaken.
Slashing those inside the bunker into pieces and healing her lover, Taru managed to save the day, but ever since that day her life's been nothing but a downwards spiral. Unable to hide her powers any further, Taru ran off on her own, finding work in the shadows to no-one's surprise. This didn't fit her calling all that much, however, and she spent over a decade hunting insect hives across the globe. Many individuals were willing to fund her and a select few others that were willing to do whatever it took to ensure the critters didn't get a foothold in the world. News articles began cropping up of vigilantes uncovering and uprooting Invae colonies across the world, leaving only scorched and charred corpses in their wake. Some saw them as terrorists, others saw them as first responders keeping monsters down.
Collapsing into narcotics and alcoholism in a no-name Hong Kong bar and motel, her past finally caught up to her. Having tried to push away the idea of processing her loss no longer worked and Taru went into a dark, dark place for years. When she began feeling like she might actually recover, Taru booked a ticket to Seattle to run the shadows, as far from Europe as possible since Finland didn't feel like a safe option given her history. Twelve steps out of Seattle's airport she was mugged by the Crimson Crush, robbed of practically everything but her clothes. Taru had found a new life in a new country, but she'd lost everything she had as well.
Nowadays, gotten relatively well back on her feet. Putting her skills as an investigator to use, Taru's become a PI in seattle as a front to her shadowrunning operations. Her fame always looms over her head with hundreds of news reports of her activities and face easily found for those that know what to look for. With a new name and a near-constant use of a Faceless system, she's managed to minimize her exposure, but there's no telling when she faces enough drek to cave into old habits, if Erika discovers their lost wayward child isn't so lost after all and connects the dots, or worse, insect spirits decide to get rid of a particular thorn in their sides.
Claim to Fame
Taru was featured often as part of the IID - Interpol Insecticide Division. Many of their accomplishments have been publicized across the world, ranging from a queen mother's nest in Sudan inhabited by hundreds of workers and soldiers to outing a senator in the UCAS House of Representatives as being a True Form Ant. Composed of seven members, each with their own code names, they've been called either worldwide heroes that chase evil across borders or thinly veiled vigilantes murdering anyone like a zealous inquisition. When they showed up to a town, a mixed feeling of security and fear turned up as one could either be saved from a future death or grabbed and brutally interrogated for even the slightest hint of infestation.
In a few choice cases, the IID was reported to have burned down entire rural villages down to the last soul, considering them unsalvageable. They were given undisputed authority once the presence of insect spirits was confirmed, but prior to that piece of information their actions were highly scrutinized and limited. As a result, they often were relentless in chasing trails and intimidating locals into giving up anyone and anything to be rid of the IID's harassment. To captured victims of insect shamans, however, they were uncompromisingly protective and more often than not put themselves in harm's way if the alternative was to let innocents die to the Invae. Wychking, Napalm, Agent Orange, Oppenheimer, Anthrax, Hollowpoint and Cluster were the codenames that the team had, and while she wasn't the most well known of the members, Taru's imposing physique and wide Slash spells cutting swathes of insect spirits down are easily recognizable.
Growing Story
After having begun her rehab in Seattle, Taru has grown increasingly powerful, her body still lagging behind with what her magic can accomplish. Having made allies in powerful circles such as the likes of Orianna Cazador and even Kalanyr himself, she's equipped herself with cutting edge magical paraphernalia. Despite this, she maintains a strong relationship with Adeptus and Pain Girl, her ally spirit and stalwart companion on her crusade against Invae. Having destroyed a hive of roaches and two great wasp hives in Seattle so far, she's maintaining vigilance, further strengthening the ward around her private investigator's office in Everett and binding ever more frightening spirits to her service. While much of Seattle's criminal underworld escapes her notice - mostly due to indifference - she keeps her head mostly above water, only joining in illegal operations if her bottom line is endangered. Suffer not the insect to live.
Significant Things for Narrative
- Day Job - She's a private investigator. What do you expect? This is how she makes most of her buckaroos.
- Global Fame - A lean mean bug killing machine, Taru and six others became world famous Doom Slayers to anything with chitin and extraplanar intent. She was one of the two Awakened in the group.
- Dry Aisa Addict - She has a bad, bad history with this drug. Lord forbid she ever gets her hands on it again.
- Insect Bane - Those suffering from 'spirit bane' rub the wrong way with a very specific classification of spirit. Taru is an extreme case: all Invae absolutely despise her. No, seriously.
Run History
Affiliations
Contacts
| Contact | Connection | Loyalty | Archetype | Profession | Aspects | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adeptus | 2 | 5 | Fixer(N,A,K,G) | Fixer | Spirit Expert, Magical Appraiser, Location, Location, Location | Even |
| Fan Yang | 6 | 1 | Fixer | Wuxing Shipping Overseer | Shipping Overseer, Passenger Line, Triad Connections, A Hidden Place, High Society Production, Awakened Goods, Dockworkers, Work! | -2 |
| Woedica Kryptman | 5 | 3 | Generalist | Rider of the Wild Hunt | Magical Inventory, Astral Expertise, Spellslinger Sensei, Psychometrist, Rider of the Hunt, Astral Rider, Seelie Savvy, Blood Magic | -1 |
| Orianna Cazador | 6 | 4 | Gear | Urubia's Secretary | Drug Dealer, Black Market Connections, Heavy Hitters!, Focus Fence, Magical Mistress, Dragon Duty, A-List Access, Handcrafted, Urubia's Bottom Line | Even |
| Doctors Malcolm & Ian Crichton | 3 | 1 | Custom (K,G,A,N) | Bioengineers | Trashed Lab, SURGEing General, How Badly Do You Want That College Credit?, So Preoccupied With Whether They Could, "Often When We Experimented On Animals..." | Even |
| Bubblegum | 1 | 2 | Gear | Fake SINner | Corporate Forger, SINner, Nothing Lasts Forever, Knows How She Got Here | Even |
| Kalanyr | 11 | 1 | Generalist | Not Worth His Time, Assume Competence Ultra | Even |
- Positive Reputation
| Faction | Reputation |
|---|---|
| Interpol | 20 |
| Ex-Firewatch | 10 |
| Streets of Renton | 10 |
| FBI | 10 |
- Negative Reputation
| Faction | Reputation |
|---|---|
| Black Crysanthemum | 40 |
Matrix Search Table
| Threshold | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 | Private investigator of astral phenomena. Very famous due to her past as an international insect spirit exterminator. |
| 3 | Her greatest achievement was disrupting an insect queen in Sioux eight years ago all by herself and burning her nest to ashes before her team arrived. |
| 6 | Got kicked from the bug hunters due to serious Aisa addiction, but was famous for her endurance, even for a giant. |
Shadow Community Table
| Threshold | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 | Follows an obscure tradition involving a mythos from Finland. |
| 3 | Lanky and far from as strong as most giants, Helix had rumors of her being hunted by someone. |
| 5 | Her origins are mysteriously vague. She is tight-lipped about it in interviews, though given her metatype and slight accent, she's presumed to be Nordic. |
Assensing Table
| Threshold | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Awakened. |
| 2 | A Magician. |
| 3 | Bears a grim, depressing aura where-ever she goes. |
| 4 | Pain editor, platelet factories and a biolink, all a natural, organic part of her anatomy. Full six Essence. |
| 5 | Not a technomancer, for sure! |
Tradition: Kalevala
Finnish mythology is a long and ancient oral tradition that has barely been codified in written language.
Spirits
- Guardian Spirit - Daughter of the North, one of the many, many daughters that Louhi gave birth to. Bred from inhumane, beastly blood and graced with ethereal beauty, they are powerful spirits to call to.
- Fire Spirit - Aarnivalkea, a spirit often seen in the swamps, associated with fire, secrets and oaths. It screams constantly and knows where treasures are buried.
- Plant Spirit - Rongoteus, the minor god of Rye. It's known to be an ale-thirsty gremlin that loves spreading its seeds all around.
- Water Spirit - Son of Iku-Turso, the god of the ocean. Imagine a dragon and Cthulhu had a steamy one night stand and it resulted in this creature. Eldritch, barely intelligent but cooperative when treated with respect.
- Beast Spirit - Otso Mesikämmen, herald of Tapio, the god of the forests and hunting. A giant antlered bear, it's nature's royalty and should be treated with respect, but grants boons to those that it feels deserving.
Kiputyttö
Literally translating to 'pain girl' this lesser demigod of the Finnish shamanic tradition's underworld is tasked with distributing pain, suffering and agony properly across all mortals. According to her, fate dictates that suffering is a part of life but due to various circumstances it may end up being too much or too little for any given individual. As a Force 10 Ally Spirit, she's a giant-sized distressed and depressed-looking pale girl that brandishes a bright, polished kitchen knife as a weapon in combat. Her abilities are diverse and her mentality mostly centered around her concern for her master. Taru doesn't believe she created Pain Girl, only provided a conduit for the true demigod's avatar to appear through. If one were to ask her, she'd say that the ally spirit beside her is but a manifestation of the true demigod that she permitted to appear with her hard work.
- Skills: Assensing, Astral Combat, Con, Heavy Weapons, Negotiation, Perception, Unarmed Combat
- Spells: Detox, Heal, Improved Invisibility, Increase Reflexes, Slash
- Powers: Concealment, Elemental Attack (Col), Magical Guar, Movement, Psychokinesis, Search, Silence
- Physical Condition: 18 Physical & Stun
- Defenses: 20 Defense, 30 Damage Resistance, 20 Armor, 10 Hardened Armor
SINs
- Authority Jane - Rating 4, UCAS
- Mage License
- Private Investigator License
- Driver's License
- Holloway Gretchen - Rating 1, Salish-Sidhe Council