Scathe
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
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| Scathe | |
| Player: @Scathe | |
| Origin: | Mutation |
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| Archetype: | Blaster |
| Security Level: | ' |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Eloise Chalice |
| Known Aliases: | "Scathe" "El" "Inferno Flux" |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 21 |
| Height: | 5'9" |
| Weight: | 137lbs |
| Eye Color: | Blue |
| Hair Color: | Red |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Student |
| Place of Birth: | Hamilton, New York |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon, Talos Island |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Naomi Chalice, sister. Edith Chalice, mother. |
| Known Powers | |
| ' | |
| Known Abilities | |
| ' | |
| Equipment | |
| ' | |
| ' | |
Contents |
Physical Description
Eloise is slender and curved. She keeps to a strict work out regimen and can be found at the public gym in Atlas almost every morning and afternoon. Thanks to strange developments she does not fully understand, her skin is ash gray and her eyes are like pits of fire. They burn with molten flame that swirls and escapes the sockets, rising in wisps of orange. She has a jagged, thin scar above her left eye, a bullet wound just beneath her lung on the right side of her back, and two long claw marks down her inner left thigh. Myriad other smaller scars marr her skin, personal souvenirs from years of hero work. Her hair is bright red, natural despite the unrealistic vividness, and she has dyed the tips black.
Background
Eloise is the younger sister, born a few minutes after Naomi. The sisters were born in a small private hospital in Hamilton, New York, to George and Edith Chalice. Their father's career as a lawyer was a successful one, and the sisters enjoyed privilege during their early childhood until George's death in an auto accident. Ruled as accidental, due to a faulty brake line, life insurance and a substantial trust fund was placed aside for the girls on their 18th birthday. Edith, also in the vehicle, received a head wound that permanently damaged her temporal lobe, and was placed under the care of private physicians at the Bellevue Mental Ward.
For several years the girls bounced from foster home to foster home, and with each relocation lost more of their innocence and childhood naiveté. Naomi, always the more cunning of the two, saw the greedy expression in the eyes of a slew of foster fathers as they watched the two redheaded girls. At the age of thirteen, Naomi drew her first blood, slicing a kitchen knife across the arm of the first man to reach for her sister. The twins fled to the streets, foregoing money, regular meals, and a warm bed in exchange for personal safety and pride.
At first forced to rely on wits and quickness, the girls became amateur thieves. Wide, guileless blue eyes helped the twins in numerous escapades into food markets and to escape notice that other pick pockets might attract on busy streets. For two years they survived as street rats until Naomi's first real job landed them a steady, if meager income and a small crawl space to call their home. Dancing came naturally after a few months spent helping around the bar, and as adulthood filled out lanky limbs the girls began to grow truly beautiful. Despite several offers to include them both in a 'twins' show, Eloise kept to the bar and Naomi the stage.
This rough existence would have condemned the girls to early aging and likely a life of prostitution and drugs, had Eloise not encountered a group of young thugs one evening on her way to work. The boys assaulted her, first verbally, then physically with fists and a wooden bat. It was under this stress that her mutation manifested in an explosive and deadly way. As the bat struck her skull she blacked out and fell to the ground, and the mutation escaped unchecked. An explosion shattered the noisy New York evening. It lifted a trash dumpster and threw it against the wall of one building, crushing one of the boys between them. Flames consumed two more young gang bangers, and the fourth and fifth barely escaped with their lives, suffering broken bones and third degree burns. Eloise was taken to the hospital, suffering a mild concussion and post traumatic stress disorder. To this day she does not remember much of the incident.
Experts from Paragon rushed to New York City to investigate the occurrence, and both girls were whisked off to Rhode Island. Eloise began training as a heroine, and Naomi was taught advanced self defense by the same experts that tutored her twin.
Scathe's beginnings were much more fortunate than many other fledgling heroes. With the full resources of Freedom Corps at her disposal as well as regular classes and tutors, she was given much that today's heroes, rushed into the job, may not be offered. After a year of learning, Scathe the Hero stepped foot on Paragon soil for the first time. From that day on her career was a strange and rocky path.
Abilities
Scathe is a powerful pyrokinetic. The extent of her abilities with fire has not been tested to its limit, and she has remained safe from immoral groups that might push her beyond reason. While testing in Freedom Corps, she was able to explode cinder blocks and other 'inflammable' substances. This power often frightens and dismays Eloise. She ascribes a personality to it, insisting that it feels 'alive' in her head like a beast that wants out. It is not difficult for her to activate her abilities; rather her control is directed toward preventing it from escaping and rampaging unchecked. Indeed it seems there is some truth to her adamant insistence that the power is alive, as it has pulled her from death twice in her life.
In addition to her pyrokinetics, Scathe also has a strong telekinetic power. Rather than move objects afar, however, it seems localized to her body. Likely due to the girl's personality and fighting style, the kinetic energy she gathers empowers her fists and she can deliver a devastating blow.
Scathe's fire powers seem tied to her emotions. It is difficult for her to maintain her iron mental grip on them when she becomes distressed, and during times of high emotion the temperature will rise around her in an area of roughly five feet. When truly pushed, small flames begin to form out of thin air, and should she lose all control completely both powers combine, slamming outward in a ring with her as the epicentre, flame and force acting as one to demolish and remove whatever has caused her to lose focus.
Perhaps the weakest power, and Scathe's favorite, is her ability to fly. [1] She is known to spend hours soaring through the skies, just enjoying the view and solitude, like a habitual jogger in her favorite park.
Weaknesses
Perhaps due to her constant exposure to high temperatures, Scathe is incredibly susceptible to cold. Ice powers frighten her to a level that broaches phobia[2], and she will encase herself in an armor of flame when pushed by those who wield them.
Gear
Serge of Icon masterminded an item that sends electronic signals throughout a suit to shape and color it to the user's specifications. Scathe has access to the warehouse stores of the former protection agency, First Strike Security. She uses this technology to change outfits on the fly, by presetting specific instructions into a small computer disguised as her belt buckle.
Scathe's Vanguard armor is not so much armor as it is a badge. A conglomeration of several armor styles, including several classic hero sets, it is unique to her style and personality[3].
Acquaintances
Friends
Brian Foster El has always had a thing for bad boys.
Justice Jon Known as JJ to El, she is drawn to his inner naked angel.
Thag Zhug El's favorite troll...
Kat Kisses A dear friend to El, even if she is a catgirl.
Sentinel Omega The Ex. One of... El thought he'd be better off with a japanese schoolgirl.
XM Radio El is more comfortable around Xeno than most guys. It must be the pink.
Dead Eye Jake El thinks cowboys are sexy.
Enemies
Though El's mouth often gets her into snappy comeback wars with other people, heroes included, she has not made any enemies that she is aware of. Yet.
Rumors
Footnotes
- ↑ Eloise, in a moment of destructive curiosity, threw herself off a sky scraper just to see if she could fly. Whether the power developed through her need or she is just damn lucky is unknown.
- ↑ Scathe once froze to death. Her emergence from the frozen waters of the Arctic made national news - an unexplained explosion that shattered a small ice berg.
- ↑ She keeps her cigarettes in the left compartment of the belt.
