Illegitimate Blade
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
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| Illegitimate Blade | |
| Player: @shelly | |
| Origin: | Natural |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Scrapper / Blaster |
| Security Level: | 50 / 32 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | "Kelsey Diana Jones" on her birth certificate |
| Known Aliases: | Illegitimate Blade, Runebow, Huntress of the Night |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 16 |
| Height: | 5'9" |
| Weight: | 140 lbs |
| Eye Color: | Blue |
| Hair Color: | Brown |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American (ancestry is greek) |
| Occupation: | PPD Detective |
| Place of Birth: | Paragon City |
| Base of Operations: | Confidential |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Tinian Hughes (father, deceased?), Leto Jones (mother, deceased?) |
| Known Powers | |
| None | |
| Known Abilities | |
| High pain tolerance, strong willpower, very skilled with weapons, good reasoning skills, high detective skill | |
| Equipment | |
| Weapons from foes she has defeated, black bracers on her wrists, bow and arrows | |
| Hero Corps Classification: Non-super powered hero, Hobbies: Swimming, Basketball, Camping, Hunting large game, fencing, archery | |
Contents |
Origin
Parents
Tinian was married. Leto was married. But not to eachother. Both were immigrants from Greece living in Paragon city in the 1980s and early 1990s. They both met because they both spoke Greek (Koine) and were employed doing translations for a group of Bible Scholars. They worked together a long time, and had an affair. Then their mutual spouses found out, and that was the end of the affair. Then Leto found out she was pregnant. Fights ensued between spouses, and all through the pregnancy Tinian tried to protect Leto from what he had done. Soon after Kelsey was born, Leto's husband killed Tinian. Leto's fate is unknown. Little Kelsey was given to child protective services, and was told simply that her parents had died in a car crash, and told her nothing more.
Childhood
Kelsey Jones was born and raised in Paragon City. She had a normal enough life, being bounced from one adoptive family to another throughout her school years. No super powers at all, graduated from middle school to high school, and then her world started to come apart - she fell in with the Warriors gang at Paragon High. She liked their ancient greek theme, their natural style, and really got into learning the intricacies of hand to hand combat. She loved the elegance of the styles of fighting with 'classic' weaponry. In ritual combat, she defeated her challengers to move up in the ranks, and took their weapons as she did so. The best was a finely wrought bastard sword. She learned to wield it expertly. She also took up a bow and arrow, became quite deadly with it, and would often go hunting outside the city with friends with the bow and arrow.
'The Creep'
One of the leaders of the Warriors gang took a liking to her and started showing her a lot of unwanted affection, a boy who called himself Scorathes. This upset her, continually spurning Scor's attentions. He persisted, thinking Kelsey was simply playing 'hard to get' when in truth she was genuinely uninterested. For a while she actively avoided him, just the thought of him made her skin crawl. It got to a point were the touch of any man would make her seriously ill, so she finally decided to do something. She challenged him to a duel.
She lost. As a result, she was expelled. Most her weapons were kept at home, all she had that day was her sword, which Scor let her keep as he had one of his own. But she was banished from the Warriors gang, and Scor ordered any Warriors that saw her to kill her. She had gone from the Huntress... to the prey.
The Second Rikti War
After being expelled from the Warriors she took a vacation and went to San Francisco to see a parade. The plan was to relax, think about things, be away from the Warriors for a while, and gather her thoughts. Suddenly, the Rikti struck hard, fast, and without warning. They were bombing the city of San Francisco right before her eyes. She saw Rikti killing hundreds of people, and laying the city to waste. Kelsey saw all the death, and something inside her snapped. She HAD TO DO SOMETHING! She had her Warriors sword with her, and turned it on the Rikti, tearing through the Rikti. It was her first act... as a hero. She determined she had to get home to Paragon City, and get officially registered as a hero.
Today
She needed help. She needed support. She needed it badly. She was jumped on the way back, and fought them off. She went to city hall and registered as a heroine under the pseudonym of Illegitimate Blade - a play on words from the name of the sword she used, a bastard sword. As such she could fight back and be considered within her legal right to do so, and he could help others while she was at it. She went to Mr. Zen and the Zenvious Foundation for help not only learning the ropes as a hero, but in support in her normal life matters as she went about trying to make the world a better place.
Friends
The Zenvious Foundation - A clandestine group through which Kelsey finds solace, assistance, and friendship as she attempts to make the world a better place. They give her a place to practice and push herself to become better.
Enemies
- Warriors: [1] - They got style, but their leaders are creeps.
- Freakshow: [2] - They lack style. It's nice they cut their bits off to replace themselves with surgical steel, but they replace their hearts and souls with steel while their at it.
- Tsoo: [3] - Got no respect for 'em. Their ancestors would be ashamed to see what they are doing now.
- Council: [4] - HA! Buncha jewboys. If you pound them in the face with an axe they go "MEIN MOMMA!"
- The Hunters - A high tech group of hunters that draw their history back to old Scotland. They are human-supremacists, hunting down and killing anything not explicitly human. They hate superhumans and anyone that associates with them, calling themselves a superhero, like Kelsey.
Personality and Skills
A modern punk kid, she has a tongue of acid, a short temper, and loves to get her kicks by knocking someone's lights out in a brawl. She doesn't HAVE to have a weapon, she just prefers to fight with a weapon. She's a smart kid with her heart in the right place but still harbors a fear of men. Tends to be a little racist in her acidic commentary and descriptions. She cares a LOT for other people, and in many cases for folks she simply doesn't have the power to help, and it FRUSTRATES her. So despite her acidic cynical shell she does have a sensitive and emotional inner core.
In combat she uses her being a head shorter than most of the guys - mostly because they are older than her - to her advantage, slipping under their attacks, being more agile and out maneuvering her opponents. Kelsey is in that stage of adolescence when she thinks she's totally indestructible. In her case her sheer willpower makes this mostly true, but someday a stray bullet or sword will bring that reality crashing back into place.
Primary Ability: Weapons Use
Kelsey's primary ability is superior skill with weapons. It doesn't take her long or much research to use a new weapon.Kelsey really wants a magical sword to help her combat evil. To date none of her weapons are really magical. However she has collected a few neat weapons, mostly as spoils of victory in single combat with Warriors gang members.
- Bastard Sword - taken from a Warriors gang member she defeated in single combat. (pictured above)
- Nictus Sword - taken from Romulus in Cimerora when she helped defeat him. It still retains some nictus essence and has that nictus aura around it when she uses it. Kelsey keeps hoping it'll give her powers, but it never does anything but make her want to order out for pizza.
- Rularuu Sword - taken from Rularuu she defeated in the Shadow Shard. She thought it was neat because it had an eyeball on it and some really cool magic-looking runes. But in truth, she found out, the sword isn't really magical. It just looks cool.
- Compound Hunting Bow - features a laser sight and has a quiver of steel-tipped fiberglass shaft arrows. Purchased at a sporting goods store.
- Labrys - a large double bladed axe taken from a Warriors gang member she defeated in single combat.
- Spiked mace - taken from a Warriors gang member she defeated in single combat.
- Spiked Bracers - black painted heavy steel bracers on either arm with curved, used for blocking attacks, and if used correctly can be used to break and enemy's sword.
- Chakram - a circular bladed weapon intended to be thrown like a boomerang, ala Xena.
- Caltrops - several things of caltrops taken from the Tsoo
- Shuriken - several shuriken taken from Tsoo
- Zarp's Katana - a Katana from another dimension, given to her by Zarp Draken, which comes from his home dimension.
Secondary Ability: Defying Death
Kelsey often calls herself "Living Dead Girl" because by rights she should have died a long time ago given what she does with her life. Sooner or later she figures her luck will run out. There are three aspects to her defenses:
Defense 1: Evasion
Kelsey uses her size to her advantage. She is a skilled acrobat capable of dodging anything she can see coming, and has the presence of mind to be very mindful of her surroundings and who is attacking her. This skill is learned and practiced, but is not so good that it becomes superhuman - Kelsey has no super powers. When dodging fails, go to defense 2.
Defense 2: Deflection
She has a few means of deflecting some attacks. Her wristguards are made of a solid metallic mesh capable of deflecting bullets without being bulky, heavy, or impeding her movements. They are spiked, so that she can catch enemy blade attacks in the spines to stop them. She has trained herself to be quick with using her bracers to deflect bullets, but it ONLY works when she can see it coming and she's not busy swinging her sword at the time, so this ability is very situational.
Defense 3: Mind Over Matter
She is not superhuman, so she can't see something coming that's behind her, and sometimes when there's a ton of council pumping her full of lead, she can't deflect or dodge it all, and she will get shot up. She has superior control over her body, a high pain threshold, and is able to take a lot of punishment before she goes down. She cannot heal herself - she has no such superpower - she is reliant on healers or rikti rez rings to get a bullet out if she gets shot with it.
((ooc)) Anytime Kelsey goes down in combat, I RP it as she took some kind of damage she cannot simply ignore, EG a critical gunshot wound or having her body shattered in an ice spell. Something like that, where a healer would be required to repair the damage, as she cannot.
Tertiary Ability: Detective Skill
Her friends have called her Dick Tracy to poke fun at her and strongly recommend she stay away from yellow rain coats. If it's researching weapons, to the scene of a crime, she has a sharp mind and a keep eye for things other people might miss. She carries around a notebook and takes notes on what people say if she finds them of interest. She has a keen mind for doing research on them later.
Primary Weakness: Inexperienced
Kelsey is a 16 year old girl, very inexperienced, emotionally vulnerable, and going through the ups and downs of being a teenager. Her lighthearted, carefree, happy-go-lucky, devil-may-care facade covers vulnerable emotional core that envies other kids that have families and love.
Secondary Weakness: Low Tech
While skilled with weapons, she uses very low tech weapons and prefers skill over technology. She eschews guns. While guns and bullets can be deflected with her wristguards, getting the drop on her with a sniper rifle gives you a significant advantage on her.
Kelsey Quotes
She's quite quotable...
- "I'm about as subtle as a brick to the face." (describing herself to Artemis's Siren and Deus Ex.)
- "HYAH! I AM XENA!" (battle cry)
- "I prefer to work alone. Lowers the body count on the friendly side."
- "I hate it when people lie to me. It means I have to figure out who the liar is." - Kelsey to Frost Wolven about Zarp Draken and Selfless Shield
- "I hate being lied to." - Kelsey to Archmage Jade Keller about Zarp and Faith
- "I kick butt and eat Mac'n Cheese. And I'm all out of Mac'n Cheese." - Kelsey to Colton Beck.
Multiple Incarnations
| Illegitimate Blade | Runebow | |
|---|---|---|
| Scrapper | Blaster | |
| Primary | Broadsword | Archery |
| Secondary | Willpower | Energy Manipulation |
| Epic | Body Mastery | Munitions Mastery |
- Energy Secondary on 'Runebow' is roleplayed as streetfighting or fistfighting.
- Munitions Mastery on 'Runebow' is roleplayed as just some protective armor. She does not use guns.
- The Leaping travel power used on both is roleplayed as roofrunning.
Music Playlist
On Kelsey's iPod:
- 1. Katy Perry - "I Kissed A Girl" [5]
- 2. Two Nice Girls - "I Spent My Last $10 (On Birth Control And Beer)" [6]
- 3. Devo - "Girl U Want" [7]
- 4. Rob Zombie - "Living Dead Girl" [8]
- 5. Reel Big Fish - "She Has A Girlfriend Now" [9]
- 6. No Secrets - "That's What Girls Do" [10]
- 7. No Doubt - "Just a Girl" [11]
- 8. Donny Osmond (Mulan Soundtrack) - "I'll Make a Man Out Of You" (sometimes the whole Soundtrack...) [12]
- 9. Theme to Xena: Warrior Princess [13]
- 10. Mindless Self Indulgence - Shut Me Up [14]
Latest RP Information
Enter: Zarp and Faith
Kelsey talked to Zarp Draken and Selfless Shield and was quite excited by their offer to make her a special magical sword. But then Faith and Zarp broke up. She hopes to talk to Jade Keller later and seeing if she might be able to help Kelsey get a sword to help her combat evil.
The Bitter Breakup
One day Kelsey encountered the drunken, sobbing form of Selfless Shield in the base and did her best to console Faith, while taking the booze away from her. Faith gave Kelsey a necklace with a gem on it that housed part of Faith's soul. It was dim but flickering inside the stone. Kelsey accepted it and gave Faith Kelsey's address and phone number in case Faith needed to talk.
Faith had explained that she had presented the gem to Zarp as a gift to show how deep her love was for Zarp. Zarp, she said, had responded by dumping her, prompting the drinking and self-loathing that followed. But Kelsey wanted to hear Zarp's side of the story.
Zarp and Blue
Kelsey encountered Zarp and Winsome Blue in the D one day, and learned they were now 'together' and 'an item'. Kelsey pulled out Faith's necklace and asked for their sides of the story. Zarp and Blue repeatedly insisted that it was none of Kelsey's business, but Zarp explained a slightly different version of Faith's story.
Zarp's story had Faith destroying the first necklace with a piece of Faith's soul in it, causing some kind of trauma to Faith. A second was made with another piece of Faith's soul, and that is what Kelsey had been given. Zarp also explained that cutting up one's soul was sacrilege in Zarp's faith.
However when Kelsey pried for more explanation, Zarp, Blue, and Gadgette grew highly abrasive, insisting that Kelsey was diving into things that were none of her business despite Kelsey's insistence that she was already emotionally involved in the situation. Rather than jeopardize her friendship with those three, Kelsey relented. But their highly defensive response raised Kelsey's suspicions even further that they were hiding something and not telling her the full story.
Bellethiel
Bellethiel was a elf who comes from a parallel world called Arcadia. She was a newcomer to the Zenvious Foundation, and Kelsey did her best to try and make the extradimensional elf feel at home by explaining things that were strange to her and trying to teach her important things one needed to know to survive in our world. Over the course of time Kelsey found her a neutral party that Kelsey could go to confide in. They had long talks about the nature of the world, politics, wars, morality, and justice. Kelsey opened up to her, in a way she had never opened up to anyone else. It was also helped that Bellethiel was Bi, and they started dating.
OOC NOTE: Belle's player has left the game for now, so the relationship with Belle is currently considered RETCONNED.
Someone Lied...
Kelsey can't really seem to help digging into a good mystery. Maybe it's the thrill of figuring things out. Or maybe it's an offshoot of some teenage fantasy of being a private detective. Who knows? Kelsey just does her own thing and does what she likes, for the most part. She keeps a small half-size ring notebook in her cargo pants that she sometimes jots down notes with.
And she did when she next spoke to Faith. She made note that Faith's story continued to directly contradict Zarp's story, that only one necklace was made, and Kelsey wore it. When asked directly if a necklace like Kelsey's had been made an destroyed, Faith denied it. So someone was lying. Zarp or Faith, it didn't really matter to Kelsey who was being dishonest. Much as she liked Faith, she hoped it wasn't Zarp. He was a Foundation officer.
There was no evidence one way or the other. Nothing to prove who was telling the truth and who was lying. She needed the help of a real mage. So she took it to Archmage Jade Keller who basically gave it back to her saying that they were all adults and it was none of their business. Kelsey explained that was fine, but it meant she couldn't respect either of them because she knew one of them had lied to her.
Frustrated and angry, she planned on giving the necklace back to Faith when she next saw her and washing her hands of the whole sordid ordeal. She was worried about what could possibly happen to Winsome Blue, but was powerless to stop.
OOC Information
- She started as a joke on the phrase 'Bastard Sword', and evolved into her own person.
- If COH were a movie, Kelsey would be played by Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princes).
