Votum Justicia
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
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| Votum Justitia in Athens, Greece. | |
| Votum Justitia | |
| Player: @Chiroptera | |
| Origin: | Magic |
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| Archetype: | Scrapper |
| Security Level: | 25 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Diana Fass |
| Known Aliases: | Justitia, Lady Justice |
| Species: | Immortal Human - Avatar for Justicia |
| Age: | Immortal - Physically looks to be around 30. |
| Height: | 6’ 3” |
| Weight: | 213 lbs |
| Eye Color: | Blue |
| Hair Color: | Ebony |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | Greek, citizenship in the U.S. |
| Occupation: | Avatar of Justice |
| Place of Birth: | Athens, 1213 B.C. |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon, RI |
| Marital Status: | Taken |
| Known Relatives: | None |
| Known Powers | |
| Blessed by the Greek Goddesses of Justice and Wisdom. Granted super strength and speed, capable of flight, possesses a unique ability reffered to as “Justice’s sight” allowing her to recognize instantly the guilt of innocence of a person. | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Justicia lays claim to having trained with the likes of Ajax, Achilles and Heracles. She well versed with most melee combat weapons and an adept hand-to-hand combatant. She seems to have an almost precognitive reaction time, more likely attributed to her great speed. She has been able to reflect automatic weapons fire with her sword on numerous occasions. | |
| Equipment | |
| Votum Justicia carries a broadsword similar to that typically displayed in the hand of the Goddess of Justice on most statues and murals. The swords craftmanship is indiscernible, it seems likely that the style used to the create the blade was forgotten ages ago. Her armor is rumored to be blessed by the gods, like her blade the exact origins of her armor are unknown. | |
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Contents |
OverView
Votum Justicia was a greek woman who promised herself eternally to Justitia, greek/roman goddess of Justice, and to the pursuit of justice. She began this quest during the golden age of the Greece and, after several succesful years maintaining peace and law in the country she ran afoul of a powerful magician whom she confronted over his misdeeds. Enraged by the audacity of "a simple warrior" questioning him, and his methods, the magician trapped Justitia's herald in a statue for centuries. Votum Justicia was freed from her imprisonment quite by accident in Paragon City in the modern age.
Characteristics
Physical Description
Votum Justitia is a woman who's appearance is fitting of her divine blessings and greek heritage. Her skin is a strong greek bronze and her hair a rich earthy tone of brown, nearly black. Standing at 6'5" with a body seeming to be composed completely of muscle honed from years of training, Votum is often a source of intimidation to most. Brown shouldered with a eeriely calm expression on her face at most times and her eyes always covered by a blindfold. She always has her sword sheathed on her left hip, the blade itself, when drawn, seems to shimmer with a light of it's own.
Personality
Votum Justicia has been described as "the compassionate warrior." She is a warrior by heritage and training but at heart was taught to hold compassion and fairness as the highest of virtues. Votum can sometimes come across as strict, even uptight, this is due mostly to a rather severe case of culture shock which she does her best to hide.
Though she has adapted to the modern world nicely she still longs for the age from which she was taken. The world in which she was raised was one of discpline, value and comradery; stepping into so different a future has been a harder blow than she likes others to realize. Though she can seem distant and sometimes to strict there can be no doubting Votum's compassion for others.
Perhaps one of her companions amongst the Barnstormers said it best: "Votum's the hard ass who spends her whole day chasing down thugs... Then when it's all over and she's ready to collapse from exhaustion she picks herself up and goes by the orphanage just to make sure the kids get a bed time story."
Affilities and Allies
SuperGroup: Votum Justicia holds membership in two Supergroups. The League of Justiceand the Barnstormers
((Note: Votum JustiTia is the one in the 'Stormers ))
Affiliates: Paragon City PD, the Criminal Justice system.
Allies: Forgotten Sorceress, Raider-1, Capt. Starfall, Every-man, Grave Bell
Rise of the Promised
Her name was Diana Fass. She was a simple but idealistic woman, growing up in ancient Greece with dozens of questions that her mother told her never to ask. Why were some people treated better than others? Why did some people receive more severe punishments for crimes than others did? Why did cultural difference decide if someone was a normal person or a slave?
At 16, Diana’s mother was the victim of an assault by the captain of the city guard, and no one did a thing about it afterward, including her own father. It was not for lack of desire, but because, according to her father “In the eyes of the law the captain can do no wrong.” It didn’t seem fair, and more than ever she questioned things, till finally her mother told her that the only ones who could give her the answers to her questions were the gods themselves.
Diana heeded her mothers advice, and so one morning she went to a temple outside of their city that was said to be a holy ground where any prayer uttered to the gods would be heard. She prayed for answers to the injustices she saw around her, and remained in that temple for the entire day and on through the night, meditating the day away and going to sleep after dusk settled, waiting for an explanation to come to her, either in the waking world or in her dreams. Dawn came the next day, and her explanation stood before her. Lady Justice, the goddess Justitia, stood before Diana. The goddess told Diana that it was not her place to decide who lived and dies, and that man’s acts of injustice were brought about by no one but themselves.
“If you so desire to see mortals face justice for there crimes, then you must embody justice.” It was then that Diana promised to seek justice at all times, to bring justice to all those who deserved it. Justitia accepted Diana’s oath, and removed the blind fold she wore, passing it to Diana. She told the girl that the blindfold would allow her to see Justice’s true course, then she told Diana that she would now act as Justicia’s avatar on earth and instructed her in where to go to begin her training.
Mythology
The true background of Diana Fass, or Votum Justicia (Promised Justice) as she is called in old myths, is unknown but there are a scarce few myths and legends left today that tell of what may be her origins. In ancient greek myth it is said she bore the blessings of many of the gods and that she has been both ally and foe of ancient heroes such as Heracles and Odysseus.
Abilities and Equipment
The stories say that Votum Justicia was blessed by 5 of the greek gods: Justicia, Athena, Hephaestus, Hermes and Gaea.
Justitia, Goddess of Justice, gave Diana a sash to be worn as a blind fold like the one Lady Justice wore, and a broad sword also similar to the Goddess’s own. The sash was blessed by Justicia, granting Diana the ability to see beyond the constraints of mortals, letting her peer into the soul and of those accused of crimes and judge whether they are innocent or guilty. Both sword and sash are said to be indestructible. It is said that when Votum Justicia puts on her blind fold it enables her to sense when serious crimes are occuring so long as they are within a 10 mile radius of her location.
Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, granted her a blessing, bestowing Votum Justitia with vast wisdom and strength-of-will to carry out her mission as an instrument of judgment, and the righteous fury of a noble warrior. It is sometimes said that Athena was actually Diana's first instructor in combat and warfare tactics.
Hephaestus, God of Forging, gave the young herald her armor, blessed by his hand always to protect her and gauranteeing that the armor and weapons would never weaken in combat.
Hermes, God of Messages, blessed Justitia’s herald with the flight and swiftness of his messenger’s so that she could travel rapidly between points where her services were needed.
Gaea; the earth mother, gave Diana the blessing of the earth, granting her an indomitable spirit and strength that Diana’s new duties would require. Her final gift to Votum Justicia was a powerful resistance to harm and the ability to regenerate herself and heal her wounds; this gift she called The blessing of eternal. “Justice can be slowed, it can be delayed... However, justice cannot die, nor shall you so long as you serve Justice.”
After receiving the blessing of these deities Votum Justicia. These blessings gave Diana phenominal strength. She was granted invulnerability to most elemental weapons and a great resistance to most weaponry. She was able to heal very rapidly and injuries that would kill other only delayed her. Her strength was said to be greater than Heracles, her body so fast that she could rise clear off the ground and fly like an eagle. When wearing Justitia’s blindfold she can know beyond any doubt the guilt or innocence of any being lesser than the gods.
Training and Education
Allegedly, after she was given her blind fold, armor and weaponry, as well as the blessings of the gods she was sent to study all she could in combat and intellectual pursuits. She was told by Justitia to go to the harbor in Athens and get a boat, then trust to the winds. It is said that Diana sailed out onto the open ocean and was then guided to the capitol city of the Amazons, where she remained for 2 and a half years, till she was 18. She was taught the art of war and strategy there and on her 18th birthday Justicia appeared before her again and bade her return to Athens, this time to study law and philosophy. She did as her patron bade her and returned to Athens, spending two more years studying under the greatest of Athen’s scholars. At the age of 20 she was visited by the great mother, Gaea, and told to travel Greece and begin her quest of bringing Justice to any place where it was needed. It is also said that during this time she met and fell in love with a sorceress of great power, Lamialuna, a guardian who collected and protected magical artifacts. The sorceress is believed to have been a frequent traveling companion with Diana, and that whenever she was not seeking those who fled from Lady Justice, Diana spent her unburdened days at the Sorceresses home.
Dormant Period
Votum Justicia became the name by which Diana was called by the people of Greece. She earned a reputation for unwavering faith to the gods, with a fair and steady hand, helping anyone who needed it and capturing any who tried to flee from the reach of Lady Justice. The stories of the blind folded warrior who fought like an amazon but spoke like a philosopher spread through the city-states of Greece earning admiration, envy, and in some cases hatred.
One such being to hate Justitia’s herald was a magician, said to be a conjurer of dark magics, he was accused of wronging Lord Hades himself, god-king of the Underworld, by resurrecting fallen people through necromancy. Word of the magician reached Votum Justicia and she went in search of him so that he could answer for his crimes. How he bested a Herald of the gods is unknown, some myths say it was Diana’s inflated ego after her travels and successes that did her in, others that the magician himself was blessed by wickeder gods than those who gave their blessing to Diana. Whatever the case, the magician captured Votum Justitia and imprisoned her in a stone likeness of the goddess Justitia, in what he viewed as the ultimate irony; trapping Justitia’s herald in an idol to the goddess.
No one of that era new what became of Diana. The statue she’d been turned into was brought to a court in a nearby city and there she remained for the rest of the Greek empire, and onward.
The return of Promised Justice
In 1994 the Statue Diana was trapped in was found during an archaelogical survey. It was in remarkable condition, thanks mostly to the magician who decided to cast a protective enchantment on it just to keep her trapped forever, never to pass on into the afterlife or return to the mortal world. The statue was purchased by the Paragon City Historical Society and brought to Paragon City, beautifully restored the statue was placed on a pedestal before the Supreme Court House in Paragon. No one was aware of the statues origins or how the greek’s had managed to make it look so lifelike, atleast, not until summer of 1998 when the Freedom Phalanx responded to a call from Paragon Police. A 5th Column officer was being prosecuted by the Supreme Court of Paragon, and the 5th were attacking the court house in an attempt to free their captive leader. Statesman, Manticore, and Synapse responded to the call, confronting the 5th Column attackers on the courthouse steps. During the fight Statesman called down a series of thunderbolts to destroy the 5th’s hoverbots and meckmen, one of the bolts missed its target and instead struck the statue of Lady Justice that stood outside the court house. At the time no one thought a thing of it. The ancient statue, holding the herald of a Greek Goddess, had just been struck by lightning empowered by Zeus himself. The 5th column attack was stopped and the day proceeded as normal, but by dawn the next morning the statue of Lady Justice that had stood outside the court house was gone. An investigation found no clues. There was nothing to explain the theft, no scuff marks or holding bolts removed, the pedestal itself still stood upon the stairs, it was as if the statue had become bored, got up, and left.
New Life
Going from ancient Greece to modern America was an extreme culture shock, luckily, Diana was blessed yet again, but this time it wasn’t by her gods. Lamialuna, the sorceress, who Diana shared her time with, still lived. When Diana disappeared Lamia locked herself away in her private estate far from the reach of mortal man, but she didn’t stop monitoring the progress humans made culturally and technologically. When Diana was freed from her stone prison the sorceress sensed her, and reached out through magic to bring her lover to her and help her recover from the mind numbing shock of such a drastic change to the world she once knew.
It was not an easy transition, but it was one Diana was determined to make. She still had a promise to keep, and she fully intended to do so. She studied everything Lamia could make available to her, from foreign languages to history. She realized through her studies that in order to see Justice done she could no longer simply catch the criminals, she had to see it all the way through the legal system. Once she’d fully mastered the English language she decided to pursue a law degree as Diana Fass, a woman who had moved from Greece to America to pursue higher education. It wasn’t a hard thing to do. She had a distinct advantage, trained under some of the most brilliant of ancient philosophers and scholars, and retrained in modern thinking with the help of her lover, Diana breezed rapidly through earning a scholarship and being admitted to a pretigious New England law school.
From that point she set her sights back on Paragon City, called the “city of heroes”, she could still sense corruption and injustice teeming within that bright and shining metropolis, just like the cities of ancient Greece the beautiful exterior hid an under belly teeming with criminals and corruption. She got a position as an attorney for the city, working her way up into a position as an ADA in Paragon City, earning a reputation is a cunning attorney who made excellent use of logic and philosophy in her arguments in the court room. Once her civilian life was established she once more put on the crimson ribbon that was Justicia’s blind fold and then set forth, earning a heroes license to further her pursuit of justice in the modern world.
Reclaiming her title, Votum Justicia, she took to the streets, apprehending villains. As assistant district attorney Diana Fass she pursues them ruthlessly in the court room, intent to see justice done.
Trivia
-- Fas in latin means Divine Law.
-- In Greek myths the goddess Justitia failed in her duty to uphold justice at all times, she fled the earth in shame and hid amongst the stars with Selene, the goddess of the night. It is said that it is Justitia's departure from earth that led to murder, rape, and other high priority acts of crime.
-- Votum Justicia is based off of Wonder Woman, Chiroptera's favorite hero.
-- Chiroptera has been trying to think up a good homage to Wonder Woman; that wasn't a complete knock off, since first starting to play City of Heroes roughly a month and a half after it's initial release. It took till June of 2007 to create a character that seemed to adequately represent Wonder Woman while still remaining unique and interesting in her own right.
