Laughing Crow
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| Laughing Crow | |
| |
| 50 Technology Blaster | |
| Assault Rifle/Energy Melee | |
| Player: @Tomanton | |
| Activity Level: | |
| Basic Information | |
| Real Name: | Dante Fletcher |
|---|---|
| Aliases: | Laughing Crow |
| Titles: | None |
| Rank: | Defiant Fist |
| Physical Identifiers | |
| Species: | Human |
| Sub-Type: | N/A |
| Gender: | Male |
| Apparent Age: | 25 |
| Height: | 6'5" |
| Weight: | 199 lbs |
| Build: | Medium |
| Complexion: | Tan |
| Eye Color: | Brown |
| Hair Color: | Dirty Blonde |
| Distinguishing Features | |
| None | |
| Biographical Data | |
| Birthdate: | Febuary 28, 1983 |
| Birthplace: | Nerva Archipelago, Rogue Islands |
| Nationality: | Rogue Islander |
| Residence: | The Citadel of Defiance |
| Occupation: | Ex-Mercenary/Reciprocator |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Legal Status: | Registered Hero/Convict |
| Relatives & Associates | |
| Father (Laughing Osprey) | |
| Known Powers | |
| No known super-human capabilities. | |
| Skills & Abilities | |
| Expert marksman with multiple varieties of ranged weaponry (You name it), skilled in close combat, experienced in small device creation/maintenance | |
| Equipment | |
| Modified Longbow rifle, various sets of tactical gear. | |
This article about a character is a stub -- a small, but growing, work in progress. If you're the creator of this character, why not consider expanding it?The Reciprocators
Contents |
Personality
Powers
Character History
The Nest
Crow never had a chance. After allowing his mother to take care of raising their infant, Crow's father, Laughing Osprey, spirited the child away at age four to the archery sect of The Nest, an archaic assassination cult of which he was a member. Referred to only as 'hatchling' by the members there, his father included, Crow grew up without other children his age, formal education, or any contact with the outside world. Forbidden from weaponry due to his age, Crow was initially put to use cooking and cleaning for the rest of the group. He still kept very close watch on them in order to study the specifics of handling and maintaining a bow, always mentally preparing for when he'd come of age. When he turned fifteen, the minimum age for recruits to the Nest, at which point he was eligible to attempt initiation (the specifics of which were still unknown to him, despite his best efforts) "whenever he felt ready". After a month training openly, he reported to his father that he was. Never having been one to show restraint or compassion to his son, Laughing Osprey accepted with a silent nod and a single blow to render Crow unconcious.
When he came to Crow found himself lost somewhere in Primeva, alone and completely naked. An envelope left nearby detailed his task: navigate his way home, collecting as much quality wood as he could along the way. Stealth was also of the essence; Crow didn't need to be told what would happen if any of the roving Daemons caught him in his state.
Crow showed up at the Nest several careful hours later with a bushel of assorted branches under his arms, and was immediately escorted to a chamber of their compound he'd never before seen. At one far end was a desk, and at the other was a wooden target. Instructed to fletch as many arrows as could be made from the wood he brought with him, Crow was left to work in silence. When he was about halfway through, Bright Hawk, another veteran member of the nest, wordlessly entered the room and began sorting the finished arrows. He wouldn't answer any of Crow's questions, but as far as the boy could tell, Hawk was discarding both the worst and the best of the arrows, letting only the average ones remain. Before Crow could finish, Hawk abruptly announced that current portion of the test was over, and that target practice would begin. To his immediate concern, Crow couldn't see any longbows anywhere. It was only when he was suddenly bound and blindfolded that it occured to him that he was going to be the target.
This final test, they told him, measured not only his strength of will and resilience, but his workmanship; although they planned to avoid his vitals, this would only be possible if the arrows he made weren't crooked. With the sound of a bowstring going taut as his only warning before each shot, five arrows would pierce him in total; one in each limb, and one in the stomach. Left tied up and bleeding, Hawk informed him that his father would come cut him down six hours from the moment he stopped making noise- one way or another. The fifteen year old could only endure it for so long, and ultimately lost conciousness. All that mattered, however, was that he survived; a day later he awoke to the warmth of a bed and the approving gaze of his father, something he didn't think he'd seen before in his life. A hatchling no longer, Laughing Crow passed the initiation and was now a full-fledged member of The Nest.
The Way of The Gun
To be fair, it was probably the last time Laughing Crow saw that gaze, too; as he'd come to accept, his father used love and approval purely as performance incentives. At nineteen, he considered himself second only to his father in terms of skill and performance, but a no matter how hard he pushed himself, his father turned a blind eye. Frustrated to no end, he vowed to do anything to become a better marksman. That 'anything' wound up being a gun.
Crow had his first encounter with firearms in a close-quarters, less-than-perfect hit in which a startled thug had a chance to shoot back. The Nest shunned technology, so it was the first time Crow had seen a gun in action; to him, the knowledge that there was something out there that could bring his performance a quantum leap forward was overwhelming. At first not knowing guns could be reloaded, he discarded the pistol when he had emptied the clip, and returned back to the Nest. Smelling the gunpowder on his hands, Laughing Osprey was quick to give his son a beating, leaving the boy shocked and confused. If his father knew such a powerful tool existed, why didn't he use it himself? Was he afraid?
Could he use such a thing to surpass him?
Taking better care to wash up after each time he used a gun from that point forward, Crow began practicing with assorted firearms whenever possible, learning as much about them as he could in the process. Arguments with his father on the subject became frequent, neither of them willing to give in. By twenty-two, Crow thought he'd found the assault rifle that best suited him, and began skimming payouts from Nest contracts to save up enough to have one custom-ordered. Just shy of his twenty-fourth birthday, the rifle arrived. When his father found out, he seemed oddly complacent; interpreting this as acceptance would be the biggest mistake of Crow's life.
Project: Corvus
Reciprocator
Associates
Synthetic Raven - An extreme example of 'you can't pick your co-workers', Crow has something of a love-hate relationship with the man whose path has crossed his both as villain and hero, ally and enemy. While sometimes turning up his nose to some of the doctor's percieved indiscretions, he recognises that their shared peril can sometimes make him the only other person in the world who 'gets it'. Crow has vowed to look out for him through thick and thin.
Androgyne - Another Reciprocator and Hero of the City, Ani Hess was a former villain who'd since been redeemed; this common ground led Crow to attempt to pursue a level of rapport with the hero beyond your standard supergroup back-and-forths. So far he thinks it's working, although the pursuit of friendship has made Crow somewhat self-concious regarding whatever it is his ally thinks of him.
Noisebomb, The - Crow thinks this man-bat is a pretty cool guy. Eh screams a lot and doesn't afraid of anything.
Trivia
- Like every other member of the Nest, Crow can perfectly emulate the calls of his namesake to the point of communication.
- The work dynamic of Crow and his father was inspired by Pantagruel's Labors; his own personal finesse was inspired by the works of Silent Scope and Golgo 13.
- No, I haven't played the Metal Gear series, stop asking.
