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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Davies" data-source="post: 8631794" data-attributes="member: 30538">The Rascal Crow<img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/My-First-Gallery/i-66mm42x/0/bc5553c2/M/184596-M.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />A handful of decades ago, in the land of Ginleng on the World More Sorcerous, the peace of a certain mountain abbey was disturbed by the arrival of a pair of fugitives. The male member of the couple expired of his wounds shortly after their arrival, while the woman lasted long enough to be delivered of the child she was carrying. The injuries they had suffered in their flight convinced the abbot that they had been bold rebels against the corrupt governor of the region, and so he swore to raise their daughter in a way that would honor their noble memories. And so he named her ... never mind, she has not used that name in years, not since she learned her parents were a pair of petty crooks who had inflicted those mortal wounds on each other. She goes by the name Shen Che-yu, often called the Enigmatic Sirocco, or her most common alias, the Rascal Crow.Raised within the confines of the abbey, she was taught their most sacred arts, both sorcerous and martial. She demonstrated quite a talent for swordplay, which was encouraged by her mentors, as they believed that the way of the blade opened a path to deep and profound truths. She came to agree with this perspective. Unfortunately, she also came to believe that her soul was a fundamentally deceptive one, which made for an uneasy combination. When she reached adulthood, she stole out of the abbey and went off to pursue a career of larceny, and soon became notorious.Shen Che-yu, or whatever she was calling herself at that point, soon found herself bored with scheming against the virtuous. There was no real excitement in it. So she began to instead practice her deceptions against other criminals, particularly those who demonstrated great ego. Her goal was less their destruction and more their abject humiliation, and for a while she found herself quite satisfied with her life. And then one of her schemes was interrupted by the actions of one Sao Pai Long, and everything changed.He fascinated her. Most of the so-called heroes she had run across were just vainglorious, power-seeking boors, more concerned with their reputation for do-gooding than actually doing good. Here was someone who cared nothing for fame, glory, or power, just with helping people as much as he could and with completing a thankless task. And in his honesty, he was her literal antithesis; knowing who he was, she now knew herself, truly. And that felt wonderful. She followed him for a time, knowing that his path would inevitably intersect with villains seeking to claim his treasures for themselves, villains on whom she could prey. And because she wanted to follow.The Rascal Crow was startled when he disappeared, and consulted oracles to determine his fate. According to those she consulted, he had been sent to another world by one of the Ascendants for a purpose that the oracles could not determine. Deciding that Pai Long would be in need of her help (and attract villains she could devastate) even in such a world, and curious about what other worlds might be like, she improvised a spell to allow her to follow in his footsteps, and sent herself to still another world, one with a shattered moon.Finding no sign of Pai Long in this place, she was preparing to move on to yet another world when she caught wind of the activities of a villain. Old habits reasserting themselves, she inveigled herself into the associates of this person and worked to sabotage their scheme in a humiliating manner. But something went wrong. While she was sure that she had succeeded, when Che-yu faced off with this Jessica Drummond character, the latter seemed only amused by her activities instead of frustrated and angry. In fact, she offered critiques of those activities, ways that they could have had more impact if the Rascal Crow had just been more ruthless or callous. The killing blow was her claim that, once Drummond had realized that Che-yu existed, she had adjusted her schemes so that her interference had actually resulted in their success rather than their failure. Horrified, the Rascal Crow decided that she must be confronting some sort of otherworldy Ascendant, a being far more cunning and powerful than she could hope to be. The only way that she could avoid destruction was to offer Drummond her allegiance until she found some way out of this. Amused by this misunderstanding of her nature, Drummond agreed and revealed more of her long term goals to the Rascal Crow ... which further horrified her.Since then, the Enigmatic Sirocco has been dispatched to a place called Taiwan on yet another world, apparently known as the World More Grim, to keep an eye on events there. She has crossed paths with a number of its heroes and villains, such as Snow White and Mephistopheles, seeking to manipulate them so that their focus remains on their own world rather than those that lie beyond it, so that when the "dimensional crisis" that Drummond seeks to create comes about, the people of the place called Tanelorn will find no allies here. She sometimes wonders whether that means that she might find allies here, who could help her escape from this servitude and prevent the horror that is to come.But what if all that she has been told by Drummond were lies? Or worse, if she was told the truth, but was expected to believe it to be lies and act in a way that is utterly contrary to her interests because of that? All her life she has manipulated others, and now she is herself the manipulated party. It is a miserable experience, and she almost feels sorry for all those she put in this position. (But only almost.) For the first time in forever, the Rascal Crow yearns for the truth that will set her free, but fears that it might only chain her further.What a twisted web ...The Rascal Crow -- PL 11Abilities:STR 1 | STA 3 | AGL 6 | DEX 2 | FGT 11 | INT 4 | AWE 3 | PRE 6Powers:"Deception is My Very Soul": Array (28 points) <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> "Few Would Not Choose A Pleasant Illusion Over Banal Truth": Illusion 7 (all senses), Resistable by Will - 28 points</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Flight of the Rascal Crow: Accurate Extended Only Teleport 9 (500 miles) - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> "I See Into The Heart and Soul": Cumulative Mind Reading 9 - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> "Who Shall I Be Today?": Linked Morph 3 (humanoids); Linked Variable 1 (traits associated with shape) - 1 point</li> </ul>Enchanted Blade: Strength-based Damage 3, Accurate, Affects Insubstantial 2, Improved Critical 2; Enhanced Defenses 4 (Dodge 2, Parry 2); Feature (can be disguised as a pipe); Easily Removable (-4 points) - 9 points Advantages:Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Assessment, Defensive Attack, Daze (Deception), Defensive Roll 2, Evasion, Fascinate (Deception), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Jack-Of-All-Trades, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Ritualist, Takedown Attack 2, Taunt, Uncanny Dodge, Weapon Bind.Skills:Acrobatics 4 (+10), Close Combat: Sword 3 (+14), Deception 8 (+14), Expertise: Criminal 8 (+12), Expertise: Magic 7 (+13), Insight 6 (+9), Perception 7 (+10), Persuasion 6 (+12), Sleight of Hand 9 (+11), Stealth 6 (+12).Offense:Initiative +8Unarmed +9 (Close Damage 1)Enchanted Blade +16 (Close Damage 4)Defense:Dodge 12/10, Parry 14/12, Fortitude 6, Toughness 8/3, Will 9Totals:Abilities 70 + Powers 40 + Advantages 22 + Skills 32 + Defenses 14 = 178 pointsOffensive PL: 10Defensive PL: 11Resistance PL: 8Skill PL: 9Complications:Thrills--Normal Motivation. Terrified Obedience--Current Motivation. Secret Identity. Subject To Orders.Note: If the Trickster Crow travels to the World Less Magical, or somewhere similar, she becomes PL 9, as her STA, AGL, FGT and PRE all decrease by 2 ranks each, while her Array decreases to 25 points (reducing her Illusion, Mind Reading and Teleport effects by 1 rank each.) She also becomes Disabled on Expertise: Magic checks until she adapts to her new circumstances. (As she has already adapted to a lower level of magic on the World of the Broken Moon, she may do this slightly more quickly than expected.)The Italian word for "sirocco" is "ghibli", by the way.</blockquote>

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