the Priestess

Strength 5b

Agility 7d

Intellect 4x

Willpower 8d

Hand Size: Edge:

3 (17) 1

Origin:

As one may expect from an ordinary, if somewhat notorious mercenary shop, Mark Hazzard's fighting men and women are all normal humans, at least where paranormal powers are concerned. However, the Priestess' martial arts training more than makes up for her lack of powers, and though she doesn't make use of firearms like Hazzard's other associates, the Priestess is no less deadly for it.

Powers:

(none)

Hindrances / Augmentations:

(none)

Equipment:

Katana (s): inherited from her old sensei, this deadly weapon has been put to use by the Priestess on several occasions. Made from a combination of hard and soft metals folded over each other hundreds of times, this sword has a material strength of at least 15, and in the Priestess' hands, is potent enough to act as a +4 weapon - nasty, no?

Shuriken (a): the Priestess also carries a large array of throwing stars, spikes, and the like on her person at any given time, made from various materials; about a material strength of 10. These throwing weapons act as +2 implements in her hands, and cannot be re-used unless the Priestess recovers them first. In the event that recovery isn't an option, she carries quite a few of these.

Skills:

Boxing (s): a part of the Priestess' dangerous fighting style includes her ability to strike an opponent quickly. In a given exchange, she can divide her total pre-card play action score between two melee attacks, the last of which will occur as a contingent action. This makes her a little bit less likely to hit with her bare hands, feet, or any other body part, but if she gets in a quick string of blows, it's all over.

Manipulation (w): if there's anything that the Priestess is good at, it's using everything she has to get the job done - whether it be making up stories on the fly, telling a body exactly what they want to hear, or other, less politically correct methods. This skill even allows her to manipulate people without them knowing it - the best kind of influence there is!

Martial Arts (a): the core of her combative talent, this skill allows the Priestess several benefits in unarmed combat. To wit, she may attempt any unarmed melee attack, dodge maneuver, or even catch thrown weapons at one difficulty level lower than is normally required. She may also use her Agility instead of her Intellect to determine the order of initiative, as she's trained to think and fight on her feet.

Martial Arts Weapons (s): another offshoot of the training given to her by her late sensei, this skill gives the Priestess the ability to competently wield all manner of oriental weapons without penalty. This includes the use of blowguns, crossbows, katanas, kris, nunchaku, sais, shuriken, or anything else utilized in oriental fighting styles. She doesn't always carry such gear, but she can use it quite effectively when she does.

Wrestling (s): yet another aspect of her advanced combat training, this skill allows the Priestess to grapple an opponent as a contingent action, should she damage them in melee. If she passes an average difficulty Strength (strength) action against a foe, she can inflict the same amount of damage each subsequent exchange if she maintains her hold, which is done by repeating her wrestling action each exchange.

Contacts:

Naturally, the Priestess has Mark Hazzard as a solid contact, as the man is good friends with her - more, really. Furthermore, his pals have worked with her on more than one occasion, so they're likely to help her in a pinch. Finally, there's the uncounted multitudes of people she's instructed in the martial arts, who revere her like a true priestess, and would do almost anything to help or protect her.

Calling:

Mentor: an almost archetypal example of this calling, the Priestess does her all to teach others both competence, independence, and responsibility, mostly by training young adults in the martial arts. The discipline she imparts helps to stem crime all around her dojo, either by preventing folks from committing crimes (her students) or enabling them to resist criminal advances from others.

Costume:

Like most of Mark's pals, the Priestess doesn't have a set costume while participating in some adventure or another. For instance, while on a rescue mission with Mark and his pal Mal, she wore a black leather outfit consisting of pants, a buttoned vest, hip-hugger boots, and of course, gloves that reach up past her elbows. On other jobs, she's worn normal street wear or camouflage fatigues, so her look is variable.

Personality:

The mysterious woman known only as the Priestess is a disciplined, yet passionate human being. Having had her life turned around by a single act of kindness by a total stranger, she has the belief that human beings are inherently good people, and does her level best to assist others in any way possible, mostly by running her martial arts dojo and teaching inner city youths to take care of themselves.

Real Name: unrevealed
Occupation: Martial arts instructor
Legal Status: American citizen with no known criminal record
Marital Status: single
Alias(es), if any: High Priestess (more of an alternate title, really)
Group Affiliation: none; though she occasionally assists Mark and various folks in his mercenary shop.

Height: 5' 7"
Hair: blonde
Eyes: blue
Weight: 117 lbs.
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: none

Story:

The story of she who became the Priestess began when, after running away from home and her father, she made her way to New York City. Shortly after her arrival, she was targeted by various street hustlers, pimps, and assorted sundry, unsavory types, when she was rescued from a life of unpleasant activity by none other than Mark Hazzard, who drove those thugs off and bought her a lunch.

Listening to her story while they ate, Mark deduced that the best thing for her would be to entrust her care to an old friend of his, a martial arts sensei. This man let her stay in a spare room and, in addition to making sure her basic needs were met, began to train her in the ways of the martial arts. This was, of course, to give her the means to ensure her own independence.

And it worked. Over the next few years, she finally acquired her black belt in karate and other assorted martial arts, and when the sensei died a bit later, he left his dojo to her - mind you, she figured the thing was as much Mark's as it was hers, as he made her life in New York possible. At any rate, over the years she became a renowned instructor in her own right, and came to be known as the Priestess.

As she taught countless inner city students the lessons that saved her own life, the Priestess did what she could to help her good friend Mark, should he find himself in need. This help was rarely necessary, of course, but one such instance did involve the Priestess helping Mark and his pal Mal to save Mal's kid sister from a gang of bikers, even though this help ultimately wound up being unnecessary.

This changed after Mark abruptly and violently ended his working relationship with both Mal and his shop's pilot, Treetop. Needing a place to stay (since Treetop actually owned his apartment), Mark came to the Priestess for help, and she gave him a place to stay without question. Of course, under these conditions, their friendship seems to have developed into something... more.

Eventually, though, things went sour when Mark got himself captured by Iranian soldiers, and was about to be executed for his crimes against that state - namely, helping to smuggle arms in to help Mujahedin rebels over in Afghanistan. When his pals mobilized in an effort to rescue him in time, the Priestess was one of the first to volunteer, and she even brought two willing students with her.

Sneaking their way into Iran, Hazzard's shop, along with the Priestess and her two martial artists in training, broke into the compound that was holding their friend without mercy. During a coordinated assault, the mercenaries and martial artists tore the place apart, and after freeing Hazzard, they helped the man take out the leader of the facility, the jerk who executed Mark's pilot pal, Ritter.

Once he got back to the States, however, Mark got himself killed by his ex-wife's new husband, who was insanely jealous of him for some reason - though Mark took him out as well. This obviously devastated the Priestess a lot, as Mark was one of the most important people in her life. But, considering her character, she's most likely decided to carry on, in his honor, helping city kids help themselves.

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