Kicks-from-Behind

Name: Kicks-from-Behind
Concept: Wronged Gang Member

Motivation: Destroy the crime syndicates of Dhamsarat.

Urge: Destabilize Dhamsarat and plunge the city into anarchy (Adorjani).

Intimacies (8/10): The Syndicates of Dhamsarat (Hatred), Shimah's Fingers (Grief), Shuyana Asha (Longing), the Downtrodden and Impoverished (Compassion), Fighting (Joy), her Name (Pride), Dhamsarat (Shame).

Exalt: Infernal

Caste: Scourge

Anima: A seething crimson aura of shadowy tentacles, which shift intermittently to resemble either writhing snakes or scorpion tails.

Background

Appearance: A slender, athletic young woman of below-average height, with dusky skin and dark, penetrating eyes. Her long, black hair is streaked with fiery orange at the temples (a product of her amphilesiae chrysalis) and kept bound into a thin, waist-length braid, which resembles a scorpion's tail. She disdains armour, preferring simple leather garments, like the ones she wore before her Exaltation. When angered, Kicks-from-Behind will often burst into laughter, which grows in volume and manic intensity as her rage builds – another side-effect of her Teakettle Courier co-adjudicator.

Bio: The daughter of a Dhamsarati prostitute and an unknown client, Kicks-from-Behind was born with the name Zinat, though she abandoned this around the same time her mother abandoned her, leaving the young girl to fend for herself amidst the squalor of Dhamsarat's slums and back-alleys. Life as a street urchin was harsh and unforgiving, and Zinat's small stature made her a prime target for bullies and other, even less savory types. To survive, she took to fighting dirty – gouging eyes, biting ears, cracking joints, and pummelling genitals with a ferocious zeal that made even the largest, most intimidating foes think twice about tangling with her. The girl's brutal, underhanded tactics earned her a new name, and membership in Shimah's Fingers – one of Dhamsarat's larger, more prominent street-gangs. From this motley assortment of beggars, bastards, orphans and outcasts, she learned the finer points of thievery – from mugging and pickpocketing, to burglary and extortion. It was a rough-and-tumble existence, filled with violence, drunken revelry, and hair-raising escapes, yet the crooks and scoundrels of Shimah's Fingers were the closest thing she had ever known to a family, and she cared deeply for all of them. For the first time in her life, Kicks-from-Behind felt as though she had a home.

As the gang's escapades grew more ambitious however, they began to attract the attention of Dhamsarat's organized crime syndicates, whose business had begun to suffer as a result of their activities. Resolved to make an example of Shimah's Fingers, the syndicates dispatched a small army of hired goons and bribed city guards to dispose of the gang members – hopefully in as brutal a manner as possible, so that they might serve as a warning to others. The thugs struck at the gang's main headquarters in the small hours of the morning, while most of its members were busy sleeping off hangovers they had incurred during that night's drinking. Ill and disoriented, the Fingers' members were quickly overpowered by the syndicate forces, and the battle became a slaughter. As Kicks-from-Behind watched her companions fall before the blades and cudgels of the syndicates' hired muscle, panic overwhelmed her. Their foes were too many and too well-armed. None of them could hope to prevail against such odds – least of all her. In that moment, her courage failed her, and – though it tore her heart in two – she turned and fled the hideout, the dying screams of her friends echoing in her ears.

Kicks-from-Behind does not recall how long she spent running through Dhamsarat's darkened streets, weaving through the dusty labyrinth of back-alleys and side-streets, tears burning in her eyes, before finally collapsing within the ruin of an old house. Filled with shame and self-loathing, she spent the remainder of the night – and much of the following day – huddled beneath a pile of old rags in one corner of the crumbling building, quietly sobbing with aimless fury and despair, before finally succumbing to exhaustion and falling into a fitful, nightmare-laden slumber.

She awoke after nightfall, to a soft murmuring sound – like the crackling of dry leaves. Opening her eyes, she saw a huge, six-legged lizard with shimmering blue-green scales squatting beside her – an amphelisae demon of Adorjan. Kicks-from-Behind nearly fled at the sight of the creature, but its gentle, murmuring voice quickly soothed the young woman's fear. It was then that another voice – seemingly formed from the silence between the amphelisae's words – spoke to her. It told Kicks-from-Behind that the death of her companions had not been her fault and – what's more – her decision to flee had been the correct one. To die uselessly alongside her friends would have served no purpose, other than to ensure the syndicates' victory. By choosing life, she had ensured that their deaths would not go unavenged. The voice promised to grant her this chance for revenge – and much more besides – if she would but swear fealty to Silent Wind, serving as her agent in Creation and aiding the Yozis in their plan to re-make the world. Kicks-from-Behind scarcely hesitated. Desperate for a chance to redeem herself for her cowardice, she accepted the demon's offer, and was promptly swallowed alive by the Teakettle Courier. Five days later she burst from her demonic chrysalis amidst a cyclone of greenish light, her soul aflame with the radiance of Hell.

Upon her arrival in Malfeas, Kicks-from-Behind was placed under the tutelage of a disgraced Immaculate named Shuyana Asha, who began training the newborn Infernal in the ways of Celesital martial arts. She proved an apt pupil, though her disdain for armour eventually prompted her mentor to have her bonded with peronelle, which she could summon in times of dire need. From the demon-smiths of Hell, she was presented with a set of razorclaws, forged from vitriolic orichalcum and specially fitted nimble, thief's hands. Armed and trained, she returned to Creation as an enthusiastic agent of Hell, gleefully assassinating those who stood in the way of masters' plans, while eagerly pursuing her own agenda against the syndicates of Dhamsarat.

Kicks-from-Behind's euphoria was short-lived however, and it wasn't long before her rebellious spirit began to chafe against the constraints of her duties. Her soul burned with a searing lust for vengeance, yet her masters repeatedly denied her requests to strike directly at the heart of Dhamsarat's criminal syndicates. To make matters worse, her faith in the dream of the Reclamation had begun to falter. Though powerful, the Yozis were clearly damaged beings – both mentally and physically – and Kicks-from-Behind was beginning to doubt that anything other than chaos and suffering could come of their mad, twisted schemes. Finally, during one particularly trying mission – in which she was commanded to burn the bulk of a city's slums to the ground – her patience finally broke and, for the second time in her life, she turned her back on her benefactors and fled.

On the run from her Infernal patrons, Kicks-from-Behind has spent the past few years keeping a low profile, selling her services as a thief or hired blade, while seeking the means to bring down Dhamsarat's criminal syndicates, once and for all. In her darker moments, she wonders if her life is doomed to be an endless parade of failures and retreats, and if she will ever succeed in avenging herself upon the syndicates that destroyed her family. She hopes she has made the right choice.

Stats

Core Power

Essence: *** (16)

Personal: 14

Peripheral: 27

Attuned: 9

Willpower: ***** ** (22)

Virtues (28)

Compassion *** (9)

Conviction *** (9)

Temperance ** (5)

Valour ** (5)

Virtue Flaw:

Armaments

Twofold Hateful Caress (Vitriolic Orichalcum Razorclaws): Speed 5, Accuracy +5, Damage +4L/2, Defense +3, Rate 2, Tags M, O

Power: Talons are dextrous enough to be used as lock-picks (+3 to Larceny rolls involving lock-picking).

Soak

Total

Natural 6/6, Hardness 3/0

Melee DV 8 (claws), 9 (chain) Dodge DV 7

MDV 4

Attributes

Physical (Primary, 0/80)

Strength **** (16+4)

Dexterity ***** (40)

Stamina **** (24)

Social (Tertiary, 0/40)

Charisma ** (4)

Manipulation *** (12)

Appearance **** (24)

Mental (Secondary, 0/52)

Perception **** (24)

Intelligence ** (4)

Wits **** (24)

Abilities

0/114

Specialties 0/12

Slayer

Martial Arts ***** (Favoured) (0+19) Dirty Fighting (+3) (9)

Thrown *** (7+2)

Malefactor

Integrity * (3)

Performance *** (Favoured) (7)

Resistance *** (Favoured) (7)

Survival *** (Favoured) (7)

Defiler

Medicine * (3)

Investigate * (0+3)

Scourge (Caste)

Athletics ***** (19)

Awareness *** (7)

Dodge ***** (19)

Stealth *** (7)

Larceny ***** (19) Streetwise (+1) (3)

Fiend

Linguistics * (Flametongue & Low Realm) (3)

Ride * (3)

Socialize ** (Favoured) (3+1)

Backgrounds

Total: 0/21

Artifact ** (Vitriolic Orichalcum Razorclaws) (6)

Cult * (The Daughter of Scorpions - Living Saint of Thieves and Cutthroats) (3)

Resources * (3)

Mentor *** (0+9)

Demon Familiar *** (Peronelle) (9)

Charms

Total: 0/100

Malfeas

By Pain Reforged (1 bashing) (8)

Scar-Writ Saga Shield (Permanent x2) (0+16)

Adorjan

First Adorjan Excellency (1m per die) (24)

Adorjan Inevitability Technique (1w) (8)

Windborn Stride (Permanent) (24)

Who Strikes the Wind? (8m) (8)

Running to Forever (Permanent) (8)

Unimpeded Perfection of Exertion (Permanent) (8)

Gravity Rebuking Grace (Permanent) (8)

Foam Dancing Haste (Permanent) (4+4)

Faster Than Sight (5m) (0+8)

Thousandfold Typhoon Hand (4m) (0+8)

Murder is Meat (Permanent) (0+8)

Martial Arts

Crimson Leaping Cat Technique (3m) (0+8)

Striking Fury Claws Attack (2m) (0+8)

Tiger Form (6m) (0+8)

Raging Tiger Pounce (2m) (0+8)

Spine Shattering Bite (3m + 1m per die) (8)

Starting XP

Total: 160

Martial Arts to 5 (19)

Essence to 3 (16)

Foam Dancing Haste (Permanent) (4+ Reserve 4)

Faster Than Sight (5m) (0+8)

Scar-Writ Saga Shield (Permanent x2) (0+16)

Mentor *** (9)

Crimson Leaping Cat Technique (3m) (0+8)

Willpower to 7 (22)

Strength to 4 (4+Reserve 4)

Striking Fury Claws Attack (2m) (0+8)

Tiger Form (6m) (0+8)

Raging Tiger Pounce (2m) (0+8)

Spine Shattering Bite (3m + 1m per die) (0+8)

Thousandfold Typhoon Hand (4m) (0+8)

Murder is Meat (Permanent) (0+8)

Investigate * (0+3)

Thrown to 3 (0+2)

Socialize to 2 (1)

XP Gained

First Session - 4 XP

Second Session - 3 XP