Skylar Thomas - Scion of Ares - The Inevitable Conflict

Scions of the Second Refinement

Would like a better pic for her...oh well.

Background: For as long as she could remember, Skylar had watched violence simmering just beneath her father's eyes. Her mother had never been afraid of him, but she'd watched as he constantly struggled to keep it turned away from his family. He'd been a cop for a while before his temper lost him his shield, punching the wrong man in a suit. Afterwards he constantly seemed to struggle with some sort of work that clearly seemed to involve danger and fighting because he always seemed to come back battered and bruised to one extent or another.

When people came to their house, her father killed most of them, but not before he and Skylar's mother were mortally wounded themselves. The last of the grim and serious men was seriously wounded himself and reaching for Skylar when she dodged aside to grab up the knives her father had been using to fight. And suddenly she knew exactly how to strike, it was so clear in her mind. Unfortunately, her body was still that of a teenager and the most she was able to achieve was stunning the killer long enough for her to escape.

The nightmares started when she first settled down and paid for a night at a hotel where she called an old friend of her father's from the police. Coarse whispers and the invasion of alien bouts of rage and bloodlust. The nightmares woke her up in time to hear the first sounds of killers breaking into her hotel room. The knives' instincts once again drew her out of the room, and she started her life on the road.



Unbeknownst to her, her father had been an incarnation of one of Ares's more brutal mantles. His nature had awakened the blood-thirst of the knives he had come to use such that they were now possessed by a pair of particular savage warriors of older days.

Description:  A dark-skinned with feathery black hair, Skylar looks older than her eighteen years by virtue of the well-defined muscles she has gained since taking the knives up. She often seems to be a bit distracted and on the verge of a towering rage. She wears sunglasses to conceal the fact that her eyes are almost constantly scanning for danger. She keeps two knives on her person, one is a Bowie Knife from the late 1800s and the other is World War I era bayonet.

Divine Patron: Ares

Origin Level

Primary Path: Role Path: Brutal Vigilante - Close Combat, Athletics, Persuasion

Contact: Kelly Mason, a lawyer whose clients Skylar has protected in the past
Connections: Some cops, people she's protected in the past, non-violent criminals.
Access: Numerous safe-houses/flop houses.

The knives soaked up her father's rage the way mud soaks up blood, and the spirits of the blades constantly battle for attention, each encouraging their own particular brand of violence. They haven't yet fully adapted to Skylar so their influence over her is limited. But they've been honing her into a living weapon over the last few years.

Secondary Path: Origin Path: Thrived On the Streets - Survival, Close Combat, Integrity
Contact: Edgar Morrows, leader of a soup kitchen at a temple
Connections: Homeless people, shelters, social workers
Access: Homeless colonies

Skylar doesn't look like she lives on the street. She has reasonable clothing, though often with blood stains or the occasional hole, and while on first glance she might seem skinny, it doesn't take much to instead note that she is wiry with a tightly efficient musculature. She is nearly constantly fidgeting and trying to burn off energy while also looking for dangers.

Tertiary Path: Pantheon Path: Child of Ares's Power - Integrity, Empathy, Persuasion
Contact: Captain Ophelia Wendell, a retired Army Chaplain in the faith of Ares
Connections: Worshippers of Ares, Athena, and Eris
Access: Ophelia's personal temple site.

Anyone else who had taken up the knives would likely have become insane by now. Skylar is able to at least focus her violent urges on those who would use violence indiscriminately. The fact that Skylar is not only a child of Ares but a child of the incarnation that inadvertently cursed the blades has given her some sort of capability to manage them.

Abilities:  

Academics

Athletics *** (Running)

Close Combat ***** (Lethal Combat)

Culture *

Empathy *
Integrity *** (Managing Paranoia)
Firearms *

Leadership

Medicine *

Occult

Persuasion **** (Intimidation)

Pilot

Science

Subterfuge **

Survival *** (Urban)

Technology

Attributes:  Force Favored - Physical, Mental Social

Force

• Intellect ***
• Might ***
• Presence ***

Finesse

• Cunning ***
• Dexterity ****
• Manipulation **

Resilience

• Resolve ***
• Stamina ****
• Composure ***

Legend: 0


Calling: Warrior *

Knacks: The Biggest Threat

Birthrights:

• The Marshal's Knife - Relic **
• An old bowie knife that always feels warm and slick in the hand though the blade always appears as if it has never seen violence.
• Motif: Vengeance Bound
• +1 Enhancement when used in upfront fighting.
• +1 Enhancement toward the Inflict Injury stunt
• Order
• Flaw: The bearer of the knife obsesses around wrongs they have heard of or witnessed, and is bombarded with dreams of vengeance. When a new scene starts the presence of any beings whom Skylar knows to have committed brutal crimes forces her to face a Complication to resist the urge to pursue justice. This could lead to her upping tension until a fight starts or making tactically unsound actions to prioritize that target. The Complication is at -3 unless the The Bloody Bayonet is also present in which case it will caution her to be more subtle and make the Complication -2.
• The Bloody Bayonet - Relic **
• The bayonet has an outer layer of rust that never seems to go away no matter how many attempts are made to clean it. 
• Motif: Trapped in the Trenches
• +1 Enhancement when used in stealthy action.
• +1 Enhancement toward the Inflict Injury stunt
• Chaos
• Flaw: The bearer of the bayonet experiences terrible nightmares of war and slaughter overtaking peace and calm. When a new scene starts and there are no signs of immediate danger, Skylar faces a complication to avoid pushing the scene toward what she expects is the inevitable violence that must erupt. This can lead to ruining tense negotiations and making false accusations. The Complication is at -3 unless The Marshal's Knife is present in which case it will caution her to stop imagining things and make the Complication at -2.

Hero Level

Primary Path: Role Path: Brutal Vigilante - Close Combat, Athletics, Persuasion

Contact: Kelly Mason, a lawyer whose clients Skylar has protected in the past
Connections: Some cops, people she's protected in the past, non-violent criminals.
Access: Numerous safe-houses/flop houses.

The knives soaked up her father's rage the way mud soaks up blood, and the spirits of the blades constantly battle for attention, each encouraging their own particular brand of violence. They haven't yet fully adapted to Skylar so their influence over her is limited. But they've been honing her into a living weapon over the last few years.

Secondary Path: Origin Path: Thrived On the Streets - Survival, Close Combat, Integrity
Contact: Edgar Morrows, leader of a soup kitchen at a temple
Connections: Homeless people, shelters, social workers
Access: Homeless colonies

Skylar doesn't look like she lives on the street. She has reasonable clothing, though often with blood stains or the occasional hole, and while on first glance she might seem skinny, it doesn't take much to instead note that she is wiry with a tightly efficient musculature. She is nearly constantly fidgeting and trying to burn off energy while also looking for dangers.

Tertiary Path: Pantheon Path: Child of Ares's Power - Integrity, Empathy, Persuasion
Contact: Edmond Wendell, son of Captain Ophelia Wendell
Connections: Worshippers of Ares, Athena, and Eris
Access: Ophelia's personal temple site.

Anyone else who had taken up the knives would likely have become insane by now. Skylar is able to at least focus her violent urges on those who would use violence indiscriminately. The fact that Skylar is not only a child of Ares but a child of the incarnation that inadvertently cursed the blades has given her some sort of capability to manage them.

Abilities:  

Academics

Athletics *** (Running)

Close Combat ***** (Lethal Combat)

Culture *

Empathy *
Integrity *** (Managing Paranoia)
Firearms *

Leadership

Medicine *

Occult

Persuasion **** (Intimidation)

Pilot

Science

Subterfuge **

Survival *** (Urban)

Technology

Attributes:  Force Favored - Physical, Mental Social

Force

• Intellect ***
• Might ***
• Presence ***

Finesse

• Cunning ***
• Dexterity ****
• Manipulation **

Resilience

• Resolve ***
• Stamina ****
• Composure ***

Legend: 1

Calling: Warrior **, Hunter **, Judge *

Keywords: Savage (Warrior), Wrath (Warrior), Pursuit (Hunter), Inevitable (Hunter), Doom (Judge)

Title: The Inevitable Conflict

Knacks: The Biggest Threat (Warrior), Close the Gap (Warrior), Quick Study (Judge), Keen-Eyed Predator (Hunter), Worrying Hound (Hunter)

Purviews:

• Innate - Metamorphosis
• Innate - Passion (Rage)
• Order
• Epic Stamina
• Chaos
• War

Boons: Hornet's Nest, Irresistible Impulse

Birthrights:

• Ophelia's Bracers - Relic *****
• A pair of old ceremonial bracers gifted to Skylar on her death bed and blessed by Mars.
• Motif: Focus of a Veteran
• Epic Stamina
• War
• +1 Enhancement toward managing her Emotions, doesn't work toward's the knives' curses.
  
• The Marshal's Knife - Relic ***
• An old bowie knife that always feels warm and slick in the hand though the blade always appears as if it has never seen violence.
• Motif: Vengeance Bound
• +1 Enhancement when used in upfront fighting.
• +1 Enhancement toward the Inflict Injury stunt 
• Order
• Knack: Once per scene after successfully buying off The Bloody Bayonet's Complication, you may spend further successes on the following stunts:
• 2s - I'm Watching You - One target has an increased 1 Difficulty to the first violent action they take in a scene.
• 4s - Primed to Act - If a fight does break out, your rolled initiative takes place in the second round. In the first round you can declare when you act, including interrupting an action as long as dice have not been rolled yet.
• Flaw: The bearer of the knife obsesses over wrongs they have heard of or witnessed, and is bombarded with dreams of vengeance. When a new scene starts the presence of any beings whom Skylar knows to have committed brutal crimes forces her to face a Complication to resist the urge to pursue justice. This could lead to her upping tension until a fight starts or making tactically unsound actions to prioritize that target. The Complication is at -3 unless the The Bloody Bayonet is also present in which case it will caution her to be more subtle and make the Complication -2.
• The Bloody Bayonet - Relic ***
• The bayonet has an outer layer of rust that never seems to go away no matter how much attempts are made to clean it. 
• Motif: Trapped in the Trenches
• +1 Enhancement when used in stealthy action.
• +1 Enhancement toward the Inflict Injury stunt 
• Chaos
• Knack: Once per scene after successfully buying off The Marshal's Knife's Complication, you may spend further successes on the following stunts.
• 2s - Lies Under Pressure - Place a Complication of -2 on a target's next attempt to conceal a secret in the scene.
• 4s - See The Strings - The target slips up and you learn what action or line of questioning they are most concerned with being confronted with.
• Flaw: The bearer of the bayonet experiences terrible nightmares of war and slaughter overtaking peace and calm. When a new scene starts and there are no signs of immediate danger, Skylar faces a complication to avoid pushing the scene toward what she expects is the inevitable violence that must erupt. This can lead to ruining tense negotiations and making false accusations. The Complication is at -3 unless The Marshal's Knife is present in which case it will insist that she focus on real threats and make the Complication at -2.

Scions of the Second Refinement