Dragon Lady
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| File:DragonLadyProfile.jpg | |
| Fire-breathing Femme Fatale! | |
| Dragon Lady | |
| Player: @SusieBot | |
| Origin: | Natural |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Blaster |
| Security Level: | 5 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Long Yu Mei |
| Known Aliases: | n/a |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 28 |
| Height: | 5' 8" |
| Weight: | 120 lbs |
| Eye Color: | Amber |
| Hair Color: | Black |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | Chinese |
| Occupation: | Black Market Broker, Spy |
| Place of Birth: | Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China |
| Base of Operations: | King's Row, Paragon City, Rhode Island |
| Marital Status: | None |
| Known Relatives: | Unknown |
| Known Powers | |
| Hei Zhi Xi | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Black Marketeer, Spy | |
| Equipment | |
| None | |
| No additional information available. | |
Contents |
BACKGROUND
Baby Dragon
The birth of Long Yu Mei is a mystery, perhaps even to the Dragon Lady herself. She has claimed to be from Zhengzhou, the illegitimate daughter of a high-ranking Committee member and the city's premier prostitute. The veracity of this claim is questionable. What is known is that Long Yu Mei first appeared as a street-dwelling pickpocket in Shanghai at age 10, calling herself "Long Xiao".
For reasons unknown, she was abducted by the woman-priests of Jing Jie and taken to their mountain temple in Western China. There, she was instructed in their ways -- seduction, intrigue, and Hei Zhi Xei, the deadly Chinese Fire Breath techniques of self-defense. It was the intent of the Jing Jie sect that Long Yu Mei become the newest Dragon lady.
History of the Dragon Lady
For 11 centuries, as long as there has been a Jing Jie sect, there has been a Dragon Lady. Forbidden from entering the Temple for fear that she would compromise the sect's secrecy, the Dragon Lady is the eyes, ears, and hands of the Jing Jie in the world. If a bureaucrat must be seduced, it is the job of the Dragon Lady. If a banker must be threatened, it is the job of the Dragon Lady.
The existence of the Dragon Lady was only a myth until World War 2. In the course of the war, the Jing Jie was approached by the Allied High Command to act as the Allies' primary source of information about Japan. Surprisingly, and for reasons known only to themselves, the Jing Jie agreed. The Dragon Lady was sent to Japan, where she quickly infiltrated the inner circle of Tojo. Copious volumes of information poured forth through a complex web of contacts and informants, keeping the Jing Jie apprised of every detail of the Japanese war machine. The priestesses filtered this information and passed some (but not all) of it onto the Allies. In return, they established numerous business contacts with the West that would keep the Temple coffers full for centuries.
In time, the Dragon Lady began to operate cooperatively with the American and European "Mystery Men" that proliferated during the war. After the war, feeling that the situation in China was secure, the Jing Jie sent the Dragon Lady to America.
American Dragon
Almost immediately, the Dragon Lady became a major conduit through which information, drugs, artifacts, and even people flowed between the United States and China. Through a dusty tea shop in King's Row, the Dragon Lady maintained a vast and complex network of operatives in the military, government, business, and the underworld. Her relationships with the Mystery Men persisted as well, and the Dragon Lady, with her vast knowledge of the city and her talent in Hei Zhi Xi, was often called upon to combat a criminal or supernatural menace.
The Dragon Lady has persisted in this model for several generations. After the death of each Dragon Lady (by means natural of otherwise), the Jing Jie secures and sends a new Dragon Lady to fulfill her role. In time, the mandates of the Temple have become few and far between; an occasional request for information, or to secure a rare artifact, or to eliminate a lynchpin in one of the Temple's many and varied plots. By and large, the Dragon Lady is concerned with the day-to-day operation of her organization, and with the freqent need to confront a larger evil that threatens both the City and the schemes of the Jing Jie.
Long Yu Mei, fresh from China and newly installed in the Dragon Lady's dusty tea shop, must gather the reins of a diffuse and inscrutable organization, and fulfill the mandates of the Jing Jie in Paragon City.
PERSONALITY
Jing Jie training buries the true personality of the Dragon Lady beneath layers upon layers of deception, obfuscation, and misdirection. Long Yu Mei can be cold and calculating, vivacious and seductive, and even warm and motherly, depending on her objectives. The true character of the Dragon Lady is ever concealed beneath a shifting facade of poses and pretense.
POWERS
Hei Zhi Xi
The discipline of Hei Zhi Xi ("Deadly Fire Breath") is an ancient technique developed by the priestesses of the Jing Jie as a method of attack or self defense. It is founded on two separate, but related, disciplines: the crafting of potions, and the direction of chi energy.
For centuries, the Jing Jie have been expert alchemists, developed draughts and potions for all manner of applications. Their greatest accomplishment, and one that they are ever refining, is an odorless gelatin gunpowder that they call Xei Long ("Blood of the Dragon").
Hei Zhi Xi is the method by which XXei Long is directed and ignited using "chi" energy, the internal energy fields of the human body. The Hei Zhi Xei teaches practitioners to conceal Xei Long on their person, and activate it at time of need. Advanced practitioners will even ingest the substance, and then produce it when needed.
ABILITIES
Black Marketeer
The Dragon Lady's primary role is to facilitate the movement of goods and information, both legal and illegal, between China and America. As such, she has access to a vast network of smugglers, informants, officials, and law enforcement personnel. This network of contacts, combined with the Dragon Lady's network of spies and operatives, gives her a daunting reserve of knowledge about all happenings in Paragon City, and the world at large.
Spy
The primary interest of the Jing Jie is in the collecting, buying, and selling of information. As such, they train all of their priestesses, and especially the Dragon Lady, in the subtle art of espionage. The Dragon Lady is skilled in infiltration, eavesdropping, and lockpicking.
Her most valuable information, however, is often collected in social circles: through gossip, overheard conversation, bribes, and seduction. It is in this arena that she is most skilled.
TRIVIA
- The Dragon Lady is an updated version of the "Dragon Ladies" of pulp "Yellow Peril" stories. That origin has been slapped onto a neo-Pulp sensibility of occult danger and mystery men.
- Stories involving the Dragon Lady could be somewhat offensive. Anyone who has read the pulps knows that they do not possess our modern sensibilities on the notion of race. I'll try to keep it mild. Look for stories soon!
- Yet another name discovered by playing with thesaurus. I believe I was looking for synonyms for "Seductress" for another character concept, and wandered around to "Dragon Lady".
Coming soon! Stories! Art! Other...stuff!
