Hostile Witness
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
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| Hostile Witness | |
| Player: User:RipKent @RipKent | |
| Origin: | Natural |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Arachnos Spider |
| Threat Level: | 10 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Seth Kurtz |
| Known Aliases: | ' |
| Species: | ' |
| Age: | 34 |
| Height: | ' |
| Weight: | ' |
| Eye Color: | Brown |
| Hair Color: | Black |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Arachnos Soldier |
| Place of Birth: | Providence, RI |
| Base of Operations: | Rogue Isles |
| Marital Status: | Widowed |
| Known Relatives: | ' |
| Known Powers | |
| ' | |
| Known Abilities | |
| ' | |
| Equipment | |
| ' | |
| ' | |
History
Seth Kurtz was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island, not far from Paragon City. His parents, both academics, encouraged Seth's intellectual pursuits and provided a safe, nurturing home for him to grow up in. In college, he developed an interest in history. Specifically, he began to study World War II and the rise of Nazism. His parents were largely non-religious, but he had Jewish relatives whose lives were torn apart by the fascists. Although he investigated this period of history with a studious eye, he could not forget the personal connection with the material.
Kurtz began to focus his studies on the 5th Column, then still in hiding, and the rebellious Council faction that was mostly rumor and heresy. His proximity to Paragon City was a boon to Seth, as he was able to access long-abandoned 5th Column bases, examine paraphernalia and weaponry, and -- in a highlight of his academic career, and a move that pretty much guaranteed a successfully defended Master's thesis -- he was able to interview Statesman himself.
Putting his knowledge to use
When the 5th Column resurfaced after the first Rikti invasion, Kurtz suddenly had living history to study. Captured soldiers’ statements, schematics of modern bases, and reports of recent tactics -- everything he'd learned had a practical application. Moving to Paragon to be close to it all, Seth met with heroes who'd fought the 5th Column personally. Those interviews filled in the gaps in his knowledge, and Kurtz found himself becoming a bit of an authority on the fascist menace.
Kurtz was in Paragon when the Council staged their coup, and he kept on learning about the organization: its command structure, interrogation methods, weaponry, tactics, current initiatives, any information that he could glean from published reports and first-hand accounts from heroes and law enforcement.
Around this time, Kurtz met and started dating his future wife, Megan, a lawyer with the state attorney general's office. It wasn't long before their connection led to two key life changes: The two were married, and the city and state prosecutors started using Seth as an expert witness when they built cases against the few Archons that stayed in custody long enough to go to trial. His testimony, detailing their initiation rites and command structure, put more than a few of the fascists in the Zig.
From tragedy comes a new focus
But even in a city of heroes, Kurtz could not be protected from recrimination forever. The Council's aggressive presence throughout the city was hard to avoid. Finally, Seth pushed his luck too far. An ambush in broad daylight in Independence Port left his wife dead and Kurtz himself clinging to life by a thread.
An Arachnos agent who was tailing Seth retrieved the academic before medical personnel had a chance to respond. Arachnos had kept an eye on Kurtz in recent years; his knowledge of the Council and 5th Column, plus his past associations with Paragon City's heroes, could prove useful for the criminal organization.
Kurtz began a slow recovery under the auspices of Arachnos. His dislocation and the severe injuries made him quite malleable, and Arachnos took advantage. Through interviews and psychic assault, they extracted much of the knowledge Kurtz had to offer. Doctors found, however, that his memories were still recovering, and that the full extent of his knowledge would only reveal itself in time.
By the time he was mostly recovered from his injuries, Kurtz's grief over Megan's death was twisted into hate -- hate for the Council and their ilk, but more importantly hate for the city's heroes, his erstwhile friends and colleagues, who allow the Council to operate freely in Paragon City. He truly believed at this point that he had little left except a debt to Arachnos, and so he volunteered to be trained as a Soldier in Recluse's army.
