Ikselam/Fox
Contents
Fox
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Character Background
Backstory
Fox has spent much of her short life as a Nexus street rat. Abandoned at an early age, she became a beggar's "child." Although the woman starved and beat her in order to make her look more pathetic, Fox clung tenaciously to life, miraculously managing to avoid being permanently stunted by the constant abuse. Her adoptive mother sold her to a thief named Ule when she was too old to make a credible baby. Ule employed a small group of children as pickpockets; since she was a quick learner, Fox didn't get beaten too often, and, even better in her estimation, was fed regularly. Her time with Ule ended when he had an unfortunate accident at the Tomb of Keening Spirits; she and a few of the other kids were pressed into service by the crew of thieves who had definitely not had anything whatsoever to do with his demise.
This was a pretty good time for Fox, relatively speaking. The gang recognized her natural talent for skulduggery, and exploited it to the fullest. By the time she was eight, she was one of the senior thieves' personal apprentice; by the time she was ten, she was planning and executing her own jobs. By the time she was fifteen, the gang had self-destructed, re-formed, been taken over by a different gang, self-destructed again, re-formed again, been nearly wiped out by a flesh-eating spirit, allied with a third gang, and Fox was one of the senior members herself. Life was good; she was well-fed, she was the one handing out beatings instead of getting beaten on, and she even found love in the arms of White Ferret, another young thief.
All this came crashing down around the time Fox turned seventeen. The thieves' alliance had become effective enough that it drew the attention of the Council, who hired murderers to deal with it. They also paid off several of the thieves to betray their fellows; included in that number was Ferret. Fox barely escaped the ambush he led her into, fleeing across the rooftops with two assassins in hot pursuit. She Exalted while in the process of simultaneously screaming a final insult, hurling knives at her attackers, and falling through a section of weak roofing.
When she regained consciousness, she found that she had almost literally landed on top of Baz Jeren and Sammuz Tel, a pair of antiquities dealers. The two men spirited the disoriented thief off to their safehouse, where they revealed themselves as fellow Solar Exalted, briefly filled her in on the nature of her transformation and offered her employment in their Circle, a group of scavengers comprising themselves and a Lunar Exalt called Mika the Bobcat. Fox agreed, but took a detour back into her old stomping grounds to have a talk with her former boyfriend. When she hunted down Ferret five days later, he didn't have a particularly good reason for having betrayed her. Fox left the city with Sammuz' Circle, and Ferret floated out of town facedown in the river.
Fox quickly proved her worth to her new allies, and earned a pretty penny robbing graves and looting First Age ruins. She also acquired a new lover; the instant she and Mika set eyes on each other, an almost visible spark leapt between them, and she ended up in his bed almost before they'd been properly introduced. Their relationship didn't really have any basis aside from raging mutual lust, but it worked out splendidly until a few months later, when Mika turned on his Solar comrades and attempted to murder them. He killed Sammuz and Baz, and seriously wounded Fox. He was on the brink of finishing her off when Star Sapphire and Min Shan Yieng, two Solars who had been camped nearby and seen the anima flares, came running. The already-wounded Lunar fell to Yieng's sword and Sapphire's arrows; the two priestesses burned the dead and tended to Fox's wounds. After they'd nursed her back to health, Fox accepted membership in Sapphire's Circle, and joined them in their travels.
Description
Fox is a wiry young woman, slightly shorter than average. Her lavender-grey hair, bobbed off just below her ears and parted front and center, is exactly the same color as her eyes. She habitually wears an eight-foot-long checked scarf, and shirts with voluminous sleeves (the better to hide her knives). Fox sprawls or slumps, never just "sits." She has a lot of scars, though most of them are in places that casual acquaintances don't ever get to see. Her impoverished childhood has left her with a healthy desire to get at least three good meals a day. Said childhood is also responsible for her pronounced Nexus accent, which thickens to near-incomprehensibility when she gets worked up.
Fox thinks quickly and likes to joke around in order to hide her insecurities. Her rough upbringing has taught her to trust no one, and she is wary even around her close allies. However, while they may not have her trust, they do have her loyalty. Fox is desperately devoted to those she considers friends, as if she can make them return her loyalty through sheer force of will; this almost certainly has something to do with her negative past experiences with betrayal. Despite said experiences, she still finds dangerous men irresistably attractive, and frequently gets into trouble as a result.
Fox's strengths are her street smarts, resourcefulness, and devotion to her friends. Her weaknesses are her lack of trust in others, and her inability to resist cute-yet-dangerous guys who inevitably betray her horribly. Her strongest wish is to be unconditionally loved. Her greatest fear is of failing to be loyal to her friends.
Fox likes cats. She can perform all manner of astounding legerdemain with coins and pieces of string.
Game Stats
Name: Fox\\ Caste: Night\\ Nature: Survivor\\ Anima: Black-eared fox\\ Concept: Thief\\
Attributes:\\ Strength 2, Dexterity 4, Stamina 3\\ Charisma 2, Manipulation 3, Appearance 2\\ Perception 4, Intelligence 2, Wits 5
Abilities:\\ Athletics 2, Awareness 2, Brawl 1 (Fighting Dirty +2), Bureaucracy 1, Craft 1(Sewing), Dodge 4, Endurance 2, Investigation 2, Larceny 4, Medicine 1, Melee 2, Presence 1, Resistance 3, Ride 1, Stealth 4, Survival 1, Thrown 4
Backgrounds: Allies 2, Contacts 3, Resources 2
Virtues:\\ Compassion 2, Conviction 4, Temperance 2, Valor 2\\ Virtue Flaw: Heart of Flint (Conviction)
Willpower: 6\\ Health: -0,-1,-1,-2,-2,-4,Incap\\ Essence: 2\\ Essence pool: 12/30
Charms:
- Athletics\\
Graceful Crane Stance
- Dodge\\
Reed in the Wind\\ Reflex Sidestep Technique
- Larceny\\
Flawless Pickpocketing Technique\\ Stealing From Plain Sight Spirit\\ Seasoned Criminal Method
- Stealth\\
Easily Overlooked Presence Method\\ Invisible Statue Spirit
- Thrown\\
Precision of the Striking Raptor\\ Joint-Wounding Attack
Equipment: Sturdy clothes, long checked scarf, trusty dagger, numerous throwing knives, lockpicks, pouch of ill-gotten coin
Combat:\\ Base initiative: 9\\ Soak: 3B/1L/0A (unarmored)\\ Dodge: 8\\ Attacks:\\ Throwing knife: Acc 8, Dmg 4L, Rate 3, Range 15\\ Knife: Spd 12, Acc 6, Dmg 3L, Def 5\\ Punch: Spd 9, Acc 5(7), Dmg 2B, Def 5(7)\\ Kick: Spd 6, Acc 4(6), Dmg 4B, Def 4(6)
Fox's Expanded Backgrounds
Allies ••
Fox doesn't have any major allies, but there are any number of people who owe her favors. These not only include the usual lineup of Nexus criminals, but also an assortment of others ranging from drovers to tailors to coolies to moneychangers.
Contacts •••
A variety of thieves, cutthroats, and low-lifes, mostly in the Nexus area. Her major contacts are Leon the Fence, Bright Magpie the courier, and Morgheney, organizer of the Market Square Beggars' Alliance.
Resources ••
Fox steals. Constantly. She keeps a small stash of holdout valuables secreted about her person (sewn into the seams of her vest, in the soles of her boots, etc.), but doesn't really comprehend the idea of saving up or investing.
Misc. Notes
Mika carried the Exalted spark of one of Fox's First Age spouses (she had two, a Lunar and a Sidereal), hence their instant chemistry. He was also in thrall to the Deathlord known as the Ashen Praetor. Through his foul sorceries, the Praetor had removed Mika's heart and kept it in his palace, giving him power over the hapless Bobcat. When the Deathlord learned that Sammuz' Circle had unwittingly uncovered clues to his true identity in one of the ruins they'd looted, he panicked and forced Mika to attack the Solars. Although Fox has absolutely no idea of Sammuz' discovery -- she can't read, let alone translate Old Realm, and Sammuz didn't talk to her about his archaeological finds because he knew she didn't care -- the Ashen Praetor will still go after her if he learns she still lives. He's cooled off a little bit, and won't try to immediately annihilate her, but he'll definitely want to make sure no one ever figures out the true reason for Mika's betrayal of his Circle.
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