Maubergeonne
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
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| Maubergeonne | |
| Player: @WonderslugMk2 | |
| Origin: | Magic |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Stalker |
| Security Level: | 38 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Unknown |
| Known Aliases: | Maub |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 800+ |
| Height: | 5'9" |
| Weight: | 160lb |
| Eye Color: | Gray |
| Hair Color: | Blond |
| Biographical Data | |
| Citizenship: | Confidential |
| Occupation: | Glorified errand boy |
| Place of Birth: | Poitiers, Aquitaine |
| Current Residence: | Confidential |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | All deceased |
| Known Powers | |
| Claws, Fortune's Wheel | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Stealth, martial arts training, law of averages | |
| Equipment | |
| Night-vision gear, caltrops | |
| Footnotes | |
| No additional information available. | |
Centuries ago, the man who eventually became known as Maubergeonne was so horrified at the prospect of death that he was willing to strike a bargain with a supernatural agent to stave it off. Rather than trying to deal with a demon (which is never wise) or Death itself (which never works), he instead focused on the figure of Fortuna. She, he reasoned, as the creator and destroyer of empires and an agent of perpetual change, would be willing to fend off the stagnation of death. And so he offered his services to her as her agent in the world, to do with as she chose.
This did not turn out as well as he had hoped.
Contents |
Personality
After having spent centuries catering to the whims of a capricious, fickle, and often childish entity, Maubergeonne's personality is about one part jaded immortal and two parts Lt. Kif Kroker.
As a rule he distances himself from his work, the details of which for the most part give him neither pleasure nor dissatisfaction. Often his jobs are startlingly mundane. But Fortune is essentially amoral; she dispenses her boons and her punishments with blind abandon, and Maubergeonne must carry out her will regardless of his own opinions on the matter. He has slain the innocent and brought monsters to power. However, over the years he has also become adept at twisting his lady's words and manipulating her short attention span when he disagrees with her, in order to soften the effects of his actions.
The choice of his associates is one of the few absolute freedoms he possesses, and as such he is extremely picky about the company he keeps. He tends to prefer quiet, withdrawn people; he avoids radicals an extreme personalities as much as possible, as they often provoke peculiar, dangerous, and bizarre ideas in his mistress.
Fortuna
The exact nature of Fortuna remains a mystery even to Maubergeonne, and perhaps even to Fortuna herself. She has at various times identified herself as a goddess, an anthropomorphic personification, a fallen angel, a risen fiend, and a multitude of things in between (including, on one notable occasion, a pretty pretty princess).
Powers
Claws
Over the years Maubergeonne has wielded a great many weapons, but as time progressed their tendency to break or be lost or stolen or confiscated, and the difficulties of smuggling them became more pronounced. On a whim, Fortuna decided to fuse them with his body. In their present manifestation they take the form of metallic claws, which he can manifest at will.
After some heated rhetoric, she also did something about their tendency to shred his flesh each time he did so.
Fortune's Wheel
By concentrating, Maubergeonne can take direct control over this own luck. This allows him to avoid many injuries, although his control is imperfect. In times of extreme duress, Fortuna herself has been known to intervene directly, making him nearly untouchable. This has some interesting side effects, and he resents each time she does it.
Abilities
Stealth
Although a good deal of Maubergeonne's skill at infiltration comes from his ability to tinker with his own luck, he has acquired a good working knowledge of normal techniques of skullduggery.
Martial Arts Training
Maubergeonne has absorbed elements of the fighting styles of several cultures from across Europe, Africa, and Asia and incorporated them into his own style of movement.
Law of Averages
From time to time Fortuna will allow him to designate someone outside of her reach. She withdraws all favor or disfavor toward that person, and allows true random chance full reign in the events of that person's life. This can be a blessing or a curse...
Weaknesses and Limitations
Although he is skilled at manipulating his mistress, he is powerless to directly defy her. To do so would be to break the bargain between them, which would free Maubergeonne from his servitude, but would also result in several centuries of postponed time dogpiling him at once. This is not an outcome he desires.
Although essentially immortal, he is as susceptible to injury as any ordinary human.
Equipment
Maubergeonne routinely carries an assortment of caltrops and other minor booby traps, as well as various chemical powders that can be thrown or crushed as required. He also carries a set of night-vision goggles, as he is frequently out and about in dim places.
Affiliations
Currently Maubergeonne's services are contracted on an as-needed basis to the local branch office of UniStyxHellCorp, LLC, on the grounds that Fortuna finds the idea of rival hells vying for customers hysterically funny. He has also worked with many members of Foxtrot Company.
He has in the past observed and worked extensively with Daughter of Law, whom Fortuna regards with a mixture of admiration and loathing, and has a vested interest in steering her fate towards a particular end.
He has also found himself frequently tossed together with the former hero now known as the Big Dumb Troll, whose recent personality shift (with attendant propensity to offer associates dubious drugs and rib-crushing hugs in equal proportion) he finds quite alarming.
Trivia
- Maubergeonne is the fictional offspring of a historical liason between William IX the Troubadour, Duke of Aquitaine, and the Viscountess Dangereuse, known as "La Maubergeonne" from her residence in the Maubergeonne tower of the duke's palace at Poitiers. The duke's wife was not pleased with this turn of events. I came across the story in a biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine I was reading around the time of the CoV beta; Maub was essentially inspired by the thought "Maubergeonne would make a really cool name. Now what the hell can I do with it?"
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