Nyte Shaide
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Nyte Shaide | |
| Player: @nyteshaide | |
| Origin: | Mutant |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Defender |
| Security Level: | 50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Veronica Callypso Summers |
| Known Aliases: | Arrows of Eventide,Raven Eventide,Cally,Lila |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 26 |
| Height: | Confidential |
| Weight: | Confidential |
| Eye Color: | grey-Blue |
| Hair Color: | blonde |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | Confidential |
| Occupation: | Numerous temp jobs. |
| Place of Birth: | Confidential |
| Base of Operations: | Confidential |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Megan Summers (Night Silhouette) |
| Known Powers | |
| Empathy/Dark/Psyonic Mastery | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Confidential | |
| Equipment | |
| A magically enhanced belt capable of hiding her wings. | |
| No additional information available. | |
Contents |
Character Summary
Nyte Shaide is a winged empath whose main goal seems to be doing what she deems necessary in order to make the world a better place. She's willing to go to great lengths in order to 'get the job done', leading her to partake in some activities which may be questionable in the eyes of some of her peers. Realizing this, Nyte has taken steps to protect her comrades and friends from such knowledge, confiding completely in only one person; her partner Grifter Storm, whose influence over the years could, arguably, be responsible for her current outlook on criminal problems and how they should be handled to begin with.
Character History
Nyte's early history is a web of falsified records and misleading information. With enough scrutiny, it becomes clear to a trained observer that enough convincing half-truths are present to persuade most people not to dig any further. While it may appear that this has been done to hide her past, in fact, nothing could be further from the truth; Nyte is not concerned with her present finding her past...but with her past finding her.
Her distaste for this possibility has led her to erase as much as possible about her former life, and with it any link to her current moniker. Since most people inevitably wish to know about their comrades, she has built upon a few truths to create for herself a fairly innocent, if not downright boring biography to share with people.
The lie
Nyte was born Veronica Talas, daughter of two successful people in northern Canada; her mother is a lawyer and her father a biologist. She has two older brothers who followed in their parents' footsteps, becoming proficient in their own chosen fields of forensics and marketing.
And then there was Veronica, different from the moment she was born. While the rest of her family were the epitome of normal, Veronica won (or lost depending on how you look at it) the genetic lottery. Being born with wings marked her as decidedly different from the rest of her high achieving family. Her parents refused to acknowledge her differences, however, and Veronica was expected to do everything any other young girl would do. This was both a blessing and a curse for her, for while it instilled in her a deep refusal to hide who she was, people can be cruel, children especially.
Unlike her brothers, who spent many hours studying in preparation for their future, Veronica simply skated by. She got good grades, but more because of her natural intelligence than due to any real commitment on her part. While her brothers both had respectable jobs in their late teens and were paying for cars and dates, Veronica at that age flitted from job to job; sometimes she worked for a few days, sometimes a few months - in all cases either getting fired or quitting before getting the chance to accomplish anything.
This seemingly carefree and flighty nature caused alot of friction between her and the rest of the family, especially since Veronica, when questioned about these employment mishaps, merely responded that there was something else that she should be doing. This behavior conflicted with their status as respected members of the community, and Veronica soon became the family's dark little secret, the troublemaker that no one really wanted to talk about. When she showed a fleeting interest in medical school after graduating, they quickly packed her up and shipped her off to school in Paragon City.
The Truth
Her father, a politician, had ambitious goals, and feared how the public would take his now mutant family. He was all for giving her up at birth; however her mother, a lawyer by trade, pointed out how that would look even worse. With much financial wrangling, the doctors and staff of the hospital were paid hefty amounts in order to keep Veronica's differences to themselves, and she was taken home to be raised in secrecy on the family's mansion estate.
Her father claimed publicly that his daughter had been born with a tragic but common disability, and as such was better off being taken care of by well trained staff, away from the stresses of public life. Disabilities, after all, inspired pity and heartfelt sympathy, while a mutant in their small town would be seen as little more then an aberration.
So while Nyte grew up with a fine education - courtesy of homeschooling - and anything she could want - as long as it could fit within the estates' walls - she was a shunned member of the family. Her wings were clipped to her back to keep her from flying and being seen by cars passing the estate, and she was rarely allowed near the extended family for fear that someone might slip up and reveal her presence.
Nyte was, for all intents and purposes, a ghost within her own family. When she was a pre-teen her father had an affair, resulting in an illegitimate half-sister named Megan. When the affair became public news Megan was accepted into the family, growing up alongside her brothers. Her father showed remorse for the scandal in the public eye and the incident soon faded from the news.
By this time Nyte was nearing adolescence, and her father, currently having trouble with his political career, turned to alcohol. It became a hidden addiction, and though he had always been heavy handed with Nyte - whom he saw as a shame to his name - the abuse now escalated.
Nyte found ways to avoid him, and quickly became adept at stealing in and out of the estate. Once outside, she lied, stole, and thought very little of taking advantage of anything she could in order to escape one of his rampages, including subverting the estate security systems. It was during this time that fanciful stories of a 'strange winged person' began to circulate around the town, a result of some of the locals catching glimpses of her at night. Nyte, of course, was not aware of this fact (having no contact with the local population) - but when her father found out, he became absolutely infuriated, knowing that only she could be the cause of these stories.
Catching her unawares, Nyte's father ensured that she would not escape again, knocking her out and locking her away in the mansions basement. Nyte spent several days locked away in such a manner, until, to her surprise, her father reappeared one afternoon a bloody mess.
His clothes were torn, and his face was gashed with three deep diagonal cuts that would most certainly become a scar. Slightly wild-eyed, he told her to pack her things as she would be going away to school in the States.
After her arrival in Paragon City, Nyte attempted to research what had happened. Her father's injuries were claimed to be the result of a car crash, the cause of which was never discovered - although vague references to a masked, seemingly clawed mad-man were made by several witnesses, who were later 'proven' to be drunks.
Paragon City
Enrolled in the medical program at Paragon University for reasons she had yet to fathom, Nyte took advantage of this new freedom. The name 'Summers' had been replaced on her ID. For all intents and purposes, she was now apparently Veronica Callypso DeaTalus. Nyte never questioned this change - clearly it was just another way her father was trying to hide who she was, and Nyte had long been used to such things.
Unaccustomed to the vast choices this new freedom had to offer, Nyte soon became a restless, carefree soul. She would take jobs, only to quit or lose them several weeks later when her interest waned. Although she did well at school, it was mostly on behalf of natural intelligence than through any true attempt on her part. She was, in effect, skating through this period of her life.
Underneath this seemingly flighty nature, however, was an ever-growing whisper in the back of her mind. It told her that none of her jobs held her interest because, quite frankly, it was not what she was supposed to be doing. Over time, the urges brought on by the whispering grew stronger. So did the knowledge that while her past was, for the moment, quiet, it could nonetheless come back to haunt her. Having tasted the freedoms that Paragon City provided, she knew that there was no way she could ever return to her previous sequestered life.
She began considering escape, although she had no idea whatsoever as to how to go about such a task. Her money was tightly controlled by a group of lawyers acting on the behalf of an anonymous donor...and Nyte was certain that this donor was her father. After several unsuccessful attempts to get the money transferred to her rather than to the school, she finally came to the conclusion that when she did make a break for it, it would leave her with nothing but her own earnings, which were, admittedly, quite paltry. However, the realization did not make her any less determined to disappear; she wanted her freedom, and refused even to consider giving it up.
Emergence
Empathy was first, and it took several long research sessions before she could put a name to the strange ability to sense both the psychic and physical wounds of the people around her, as well as their accompanying emotions. Though sporadic and ineffectual at first, Nyte was soon caught up in an obsession to control this strange ability. She learned how to heal many of those wounds through nothing more than concentration and pure mental effort, and by coupling it with the knowledge she'd gained in medical school, she found it quite effective.
She could now both fly and heal - a useful set of skills on their own. She found herself moonlighting in hospitals, healing the sick and injured while the registered doctors and nurses weren't looking. It was amazing the number of places a lab coat and purposeful gait could get you access to - even with something as noticeable as wings. While it was true that she had used similar tactics in the past to escape her father, it was not until now that Nyte realized the full potential of that particular skill. Deception - in all its glory and all its failings - quickly became a regularly used tool in Nyte's repertoire of tactics.
It was after one such night of fake doctoring that she discovered yet another ability. As happened all too often in Paragon City, she was mugged on the way home from her illicit hospital trip. When it became clear that the mugger wanted more then her purse, she panicked..and in that panic was manifested the means to defend herself. From out of nowhere, there came a hazy, smoke-like cloud of vapor that shot forth to slam the mugger to the ground. Recognizing her chance to escape despite all the terror of the moment, Nyte turned and fled.
It wasn't until later, and after much trial and error, that she was able to repeat the action - and even then it was a poor replica of the power she'd exhibited when under attack. She had no idea what the tide of cloudy energy was, but it was clearly powerful and certainly dangerous. And so Nyte decided that for not only her own safety, but for that of others around her as well, that she needed to learn how to control and properly use these abilities.
The entire mugging event preyed on Nyte's mind for quite a while. She chewed it over almost constantly, though not in the typical 'I was almost a victim' way most people would fret about such things, because she felt somewhere deep inside that there was something to be gleaned from it.
When it finally did snap together in her mind, she was surprised it had not come to her sooner. Theft was not a new concept in Nyte's life view, after all. Furthermore, she had little problem with engaging in such an action, providing it adhered to certain moral guidelines; after all, one shouldn't simply steal from innocent people who didn't deserve it. It was clear to Nyte - whose upbringing did not provide her with the typical hang-ups most would have about such a course of action - that upon finding a suitable victim, she would be justified in relieving said victim of enough valuables to fund her permanent escape.
Her first theft was a clumsy affair involving a crooked doctor. The amount gained after the poorly-executed haul was nowhere near enough to find and pay for a new identity...but it was enough to rent an apartment in a low-end neighborhood and a mail drop at the postal office across town. Nyte then withdrew her residency from the school campus, providing them with only the mail drop as a forwarding address. She was not fully free...but assuming she was careful, then at least her father could no longer simply show up and cart her off.
After freeing herself from that particular stressful situation, Nyte committed herself to learning about and gaining control of her unnatural abilities. It wasn't long before she decided to try her own hand at heroic deeds; after all, it seemed most heroes gained better control of their abilities in such a way...and most importantly of all, that restless feeling of before was nearly imperceptible now - a clear sign to her that she was headed down the right track at long last.
Lacking the trust needed to register herself officially, Nyte's jaunts into the heroic lifestyle were mostly solo affairs, often carried out as sidelines to her thefts - meaning that after skimming a tad off the top for herself, she'd turn about and make sure her chosen victim was no longer capable of doing whatever it was that had led them to fit into her 'targeting parameters' - those moral guidelines of 'only stealing from the bad guys' - to begin with. Nyte's experience was solely as a thief; she had no idea how to be a hero. She mostly blundered her way through the majority of it at first, succeeding in her tasks by dumb luck as often as skill.
Purpose
What she discovered was a group of thugs being thoroughly pummeled by one lonely man - a man who was wounded but doing his best, and for the most part succeeding. The second her gaze settled upon him something clicked within her mind, and in that brief instant Nyte knew...knew without a doubt that this man was somehow, someday going to be very important and that he needed her; that helping him was her ultimate purpose. Without really thinking about it, she flew in to help, knocking the thugs off of him with a blast of darkness before taking the brief lull in action to heal him. So engrossed was she in her task that she nearly blasted him when he lunged forward to throw them both to the ground - then a hail of debris from the brick wall above them made her aware of what had happened.
Ignoring her for the moment, the man leapt away to finish off the remaining attackers, which he did with surprising speed. Nyte was still dusting the dirt from her clothes when he whirled about to launch a barrage of verbal attacks at her. After quickly and angrily questioning both her intelligence and sanity, he leapt away, leaving her standing in the alley alone.
That wasn't really all that important to her, though, because Nyte knew without a doubt that she would see him again - she was going to make sure of it. The echoing hollow wounds that scarred his psyche called out to her, and in that brief moment of helping him, the long bothersome restlessness in her soul had quieted completely. He needed her and she had been sent to help him...that much was clear. The who, why and how of it all she never questioned...she would simply trust her instincts.
Knowing his current hunting grounds and following the emotional imprint he left in his wake, Nyte had very little trouble tracking him down in the ensuing weeks. These meetings always went the same way...she tried to help him, he tried to keep her out of the way, yelling ensued and he would leave.
But after a while it seemed he grew tired of trying to chase her off, regarding her with the resigned expression of someone stuck with an unwanted pet. It probably helped that she thought that her abilities were maturing and becoming more useful, and after nearly getting her head blown off several times in a row she herself was getting more perceptive.
After several rocky months, Nyte and the man she now knew as Grifter reached an accord of sorts; she wasn't going anywhere and he put up with her presence. Through observation and a few terse pointers Nyte began to settle into the role of 'hero', and before long she knew Grifter's style well enough that fighting the evils of Paragon beside him became nearly second nature.
Trusting Grifter as she never had anyone else, she revealed to him her past and the worries about it catching up to her. The gruff man appeared surprised and angry at the revelations although Nyte got the distinct impression that it didn't surprise him at all. Although he told her it was unlikely anyone would come looking for her, Nyte was so determined to see her past undone that he agreed to help. Together, using both his vast network of contacts and their own skills, the two of them set about erasing and recreating the life of Veronica. Anyone attempting to trace her history would find enough records to satisfy a cursory glance, and there were enough false leads and 'lost', 'misfiled' or 'damaged' records to thoroughly turn around the more suspicious. To her family's knowledge, she simply disappeared; for all intents and purposes, Veronica Summers/DeaTalus ceased to exist.
Although Grifter offered to help pay for it, Nyte insisted that the cash from her thefts be used instead - it was, after all, the reason she had resorted to such actions in the first place. Veronica DeaTalus disappeared from Paragon University and Veronica Talas was born. Falsified records were created by skilled hackers to support the past she and Grif had cooked up. Nyte, however was not satisfied with this, and adding one more layer to the already quite puzzling and messy history, registered herself as Nyte Shaide with the Paragon city Hero Corps, legally changing her name at the same time.
Only Grifter retained the knowledge of her true full name, and although she admits to the name Veronica, she makes no effort to hide the fact that she dislikes being called such, proclaiming that said person no longer exists. The names Summers and DeaTalus are a well kept secret.
It was not long before Grifter and Nyte were playing the dynamic duo; Nyte handled the information side of things while he took care of any necessary physical gruntwork in their missions. Unlike most others they met, Nyte accepted Grifter and his sometimes extreme measures. She felt no pity and no remorse for the fates of criminals, quite agreeably going along with Grifter's 'kill one to save ten' type of mindset. Likewise he accepted her in a way no one else in her life ever had, wings, thievery and all.
Nyte was well aware that most she met would not share her and Grifter's mindset, even those she tentatively called friends. However, as she believes that she is doing these things for the overall good of everyone, she has little problem hiding her questionable acts.
Red Cell
It was during a common task that Nyte met the dashing hero Vic Furious. Thoroughly smitten, she was more than willing to work with him. Their shared interest in several local companies suspected in funding criminal organizations gave them a common cause at the time, and Nyte took to spending time with him while Grifter was away on missions he felt were too dangerous or traumatic for her.
It wasn't long before Nyte uncovered a shared past connection between Grifter and Vic, and upon his return the three set up Red Cell. On the surface, Red Cell operates as a private security company, installing and monitoring run-of-the-mill surveillance systems in businesses throughout the city. Underneath, however, it became a valuable source of information.
Following the leads gathered through the operation of Red Cell allowed the three of them to severely damage several crime organizations. When one of the leads took them away from Paragon City, however, Vic opted to stay behind, refocusing his attention on the Paladins, who needed him.
Return to Paragon and The Millennium Paladins
It was several years later when Grifter and Nyte made a return to Paragon City. Red Cell, while still active as an intelligence source, had been allowed to fade into the background. Upon their return they met up with Vic, who convinced them to join the Millennium Paladins. The Paladins, Nyte soon learned, were on a mission of their own - to find an elusive 12 individuals destined to stop an unknown but terrible event.
Indeed the Paladins seem to operate within a very strict ruleset when confronting criminals, and while Nyte can see the validity of some of their points, she has too long been a protege of Grifter to truly embrace them. Nonetheless, she enjoys the company of most of the Paladins and works diligently to achieve the goals they give her, within their accepted ruleset - she wants to be accepted and liked by them all. So too does she wish to help them in achieving their ultimate goal; although in the end, if it came down to it, her allegiance is quite firmly set to Grifter...and so despite trying to play by the Paladins' rules, she continues - out of their sight - to play by Grifter's as well.
Blackbirds and Arrows
Already used to making up names and frivolous details on the fly - the better to con people out of useful information - why not take it one step further? Rather then skulk around the Rogue Isles as an outsider, with the help of Grifter and Vic she created the Persona of Raven Eventide. Dyes, make-up and acting skills gained during her time as an intelligence operative completed the picture. In order to keep suspicions down she abandons her empathy while on the Isles, using it only when not in the company of others. While she does call upon her netherworld abilities she makes sure to employ it in a different manner and relegates herself to conventional weaponry for attacks.
For dirty work in Paragon itself she becomes Arrows of Eventide, a dark haired, wingless (courtesy of a magically enhanced belt) archer. As Arrow she also carries identification proclaiming her to be Lila Chade. With this persona, Nyte uses her empathic abilities on another completely different level, turning the malevolent emotions of the people she faces back against them as a mind control method.
As Nyte she has been known to use the name Callypso when speaking with people she never expects to see again, although a pre-established backstory for this persona ensures she will not be unduly caught off guard if she does.
Personality
Nyte is most easily described as even-tempered with a stubborn streak a mile wide. Her empathic abilities give her insight into the hearts and minds of people that most of the population can't see. She is capable of extreme patience, ignoring slights and barbed comments; she is also capable of extreme stubbornness as well.
For the most part, however, Nyte seems driven by an overwhelming urge to heal 'the broken', whether physically or mentally. She often plays the peacekeeper, doing her best to smooth ruffled feathers after an argument or explaining away comments or actions which might be taken the wrong way. She's typically up-beat and never shys away from a good time, whether that be drinking, partying or helping to take down bad men in bad places.
Though she partakes in activities that many heroes would consider bad form and unheroic, she does so with a fierce belief that such things are necessary; that sometimes being a hero does not always mean doing heroic deeds. It secretly pains her to know that those she calls friends and even comes to care about would most likely turn away from her if they knew the truth.
Outwardly Nyte is upbeat,cheerful and confident; hidden within, however, is a conflicted soul.
Comrades
Grifter Storm - Her partner in crime - or justice - as the need arises, he's foul tempered and aloof in the public eye; but Nyte knows he's there if needed, providing a shoulder to cry on or a blade to save her. She often finds herself defending him against the slights of others who 'just don't understand'; very little causes Nyte's temper to flare like insults towards her wayward savior. Grif has saved Nyte's life on so many occasions that to her he is the epitome of what a hero should be. Nyte believes that Grifter is to play a part in stopping some horrific future event, a belief resulting from a vision which occurred the moment she met him. Subsequently, when her empathy alerted her to his declining sanity she set out to find the cause, eventually uncovering an ancient psychological trauma. To date, she has been able to do nothing but stem the tide of his decline; unbeknownst to him, she has erected mental shields within his mind and constantly labours to keep them intact, and his sanity firmly in place. Because she has placed so much of her own energies into Grif, it is likely that should he ever meet his true end, the shock of the event within her own psyche would take her with him as well. If Grifter knew this, he would throw a fit..so she keeps this tidbit to herself.
Vic Furious - A former comrade of Grifter, and still often acting as his superior, Nyte met Vic purely by chance and finds the man utterly charming. He holds enough secrets about both his own past and Grifter's to keep Nyte entranced. Vic is second only to Grif in his knowledge of her, though even he is unaware of some of her darker aspects. During the creation of Red Cell, Nyte took the opportunity that her closeness to Vic gave her to copy several highly secure documents about the two men's military past - she suspects that he is aware that she did it, though neither of them have since broached the subject. Vic, like Grif, is aware of her ability to circumvent many security systems and her penchant for doing so in the line of duty. He is also aware of her identity as Raven Eventide, although Arrows is yet a mystery to him.
Chase Storm - Chase is Grifter's grandson, and he had the bad luck to show up while Grifter was away on an undercover mission. Nyte, upon hearing his claims, decided to check him out for herself, breaking into his apartment. She has since taken it into her head to 'show him the ropes' and 'open his eyes' to the world she and his grandfather occupy. She's fairly certain there's more to him then meets the eye, and so despite the fact that he thinks she's crazy, she continues to keep an eye on him.
Night Silouette - Sil is Nyte's half sister Megan; however, Nyte wants nothing to do with the upstart girl who should have stayed where she was. Despite Chase's urging and the knowledge that Grifter pointed her towards Nyte, the winged empath has yet to even utter a word to her sister, disappearing whenever she senses her coming.
The Aegirian Templar - Templar was one of the first Paladins Nyte had the pleasure of working with; despite his imposing armor-plated presence, Nyte found she enjoyed his company, and is not adverse to merely standing about and listening while he speaks of his past, his art with the sword or any other more mundane topic. More than any of the others, Nyte wishes to come clean to Templar as she values both his friendship and his knowledge.
Kuragari Umbra - While they share an affinity for the netherworld, Nyte will quickly concede that Kura has far surpassed her in that area. She has worked with him on several missions with the Paladins, and is often amused and impressed by the constant upgrades he makes to the group's computer systems.
Servant 12 - The leader of the Paladins, and by far the one who would most object to her extra-curricular activities, Nyte finds herself wary of 12. She likes the man, as he seems kind and genuinely concerned with making the world a better place and she truly wishes to help him do so. However, she finds it difficult to develop a closer friendship with him, as his demeanor is often deadly serious and his methods differ so drastically from those she has adopted. His constant at-odds relationship with Grifter doesn't help either, as it tends to ruffle her feathers in a way that nothing else can. Nonetheless, Nyte is determined to gain some sort of trust with the charismatic leader, and continues to offer a tentative, nervous hand of friendship - despite being completely positive that 12 would and could tear her apart if he ever found out the truth of her.
Ionic Revenger - Nyte has only spoken to Ionic on a few occasions; however, she feels a bond with him as a fellow healing empowered hero. She has promised to take care of the Paladins in the event something should happen to him, as well as protect some as of yet unknown book. Nyte finds herself fond of Ionic and this prophesied future that he has warned her of worries her greatly.
