History

Some might say that I'm a girl with daddy issues. I don't put much stock in what people say, believing what they do instead. I suppose it can come across standoffish or seem like I'm a massive bitch when people don't get warm fuzzy feelings from our interactions. We can blame that on my dad, sure. He wasn't around much and vanished before I hit puberty. Left me and my mom alone. She always said that dad wanted to be there for my birthdays, that he mailed a card but the postal service lost it, that he didn't leave because of my "condition", that he'd be at my next show or major event. Of course, he never was. I can't be mad at him though, he proved time and time again that he wasn't interested in me. My mom, though...I know her little white lies were to spare my feelings, but she had no idea how much it hurt each time those little sparks of hope she created were crushed, and eventually I started to disbelieve everything without proof.

I don't remember a lot about my dad, but there was one thing he shared with me that I remember, and do so with fondness. Indiana Freaking Jones. I grew up wanting to be Indy, traveling the world, finding hidden treasures, meeting eccentric souls, and having whirlwind romances before moving on to the next destination. After I left home, my life took an interesting turn and I got to do just that.

It started when I wandered into one of those metaphysical stores on a lark. The owner kept eyeing me like he thought I was planning to steal one of his precious crystals. Turns out it, he was more keen on my curse than he was worried about theft. I left with both a job at the store and an invitation to join him on a trip to retrieve some Hopi artifacts from a cave system in Arizona. According to our guide, a tribal shaman was corrupted by something evil and that malevolence was channeled by his ceremonial items and seeped into them. The shaman was eventually slain and put to an uneasy rest in the cave, confined there by Hopi magics. The shaman's ghost gathered enough dark energy on the other side that while he still couldn't leave the cave, he was luring people to him and absorbing their life-force.

Honani Jones and the Cavern of Doom

There I was, baking in the heat of Atticus's old rumble box as he slowed the Jeep to a stop near the markers setup by the university's anthropology students, where we stepped out into the blistering oven of an Arizona afternoon. We got geared up and headed into the cave, following the neon light of glow sticks. The tunnels twisted and circled back, winding down into the earth. The farther we went, the more the hairs on my neck bristled and the iron in my spine hardened. There was something decidedly off about the place, a saturation in the air I later learned was condensed magic.

The artifacts we were recovering weren't every day pottery or quartz arrowheads. As we neared the final chamber where the artifacts were housed, we felt cold and darkness pressing in, growing almost palpable, heavy and thicker as we reached the room. In a nook carved in the stone wall, lay a collection of ceremonial trinkets - a pair of bracelets, a necklace, and ritual gourd stick. Before we dared touch it, I watched Atticus conjure up some hoodoo of his own to help negate the curse that had been laid on the relics. Then, he deftly swept them up with an invisible force and began to secure them in specially warded box. All seemed to be going fine until Atticus lurched forward as if shoved, his magics faltering, and one of the bracelets dropped to the ground. The moment it made contact, chaos flooded the cave.

Our guide bolted. Stripping my shirt off, I snatched up the bracelet, put it in the box, slammed it shut, and shoved it into Atticus's hands as I pushed him towards the exit. Whatever force coalesced in that dark, dry space tried to keep me from leaving. It shook the ground, sending bits of stone debris to rain down, causing me to choke on dust. . Angered spirits raged, clawing at me, raking at my flesh. Now, I won't say it was as awesome as what Indy faced, but the tunnel did collapse, heaped with rubble. So, what did I do?

Well, after I escaped, Atticus and I took the box of cursed objects to the Hopi elders and Medicine Men so they could deal with it. As for how I escaped?

Yeah, so I have a bit of a temper when people..or things..try to keep me from doing what I want. I tend to get excessively stubborn, even to my own detriment. In this case, I wanted to leave and promptly stopped giving any fucks. I shifted into my other form, shook off the magic and the grabby things, and wriggled my way through the fallen stone until I made my way out, returning to human before leaving the shadowed interior. Those who saw my impossible exit will either comment on the miracle of it, or the fact that I was topless. Either way, Atticus gained a new appreciation of my skills and I began working with him to procure other such curiosities.

Honi's Emporium

Here's the thing you don't see in the movies...being an archaeologist doesn’t pay. Sure, you might get a tidy sum for an object now and then, assuming you don’t give it back to the people it belongs to or donate it to a museum, but those funds are pretty paltry and don’t last long. Which means, you need a day job to pay the bills. Just like Atticus did before he passed and left the shop to me, I run Honi’s Emporium, Occult Relics and Reagents.

Mostly I sell harmless things like candles, crystals, tarot cards, herbs, and charms that people like to think hold power. Oh, and thanks to the damn tourists who don’t read the sign and think I’m some sort of natural beauty shop or quaint little boutique, I’ve set up a special display for all things honey – raw honey, flavored honey, honey cakes, bee’s wax candles and lip balm, honey butter, honey body cream. You get the idea. It started as a joke, but the irony of it amuses me so I leave it. But, every once in a while, I get someone who needs help thwarting real magic or chasing down some family heirloom or another. That's when I get to do some good, dust off my whip, and don my fedora.

Powers & Abilities

Common Abilities

• Additional Lifespan - Some animals are capable of living for as long as human beings do. With this power, the lycanthrope adds the average lifespan of his animal to his own. This power can be taken no more than twice.
• Animal Charisma - The lycanthrope radiates a certain animal charisma, an aura of mystery and danger which many find appealing.
  • When using this power, the lycanthrope seems 'sexier', more attractive and appealing.
• Camouflage - The lycanthrope is able to mask his visible presence, not turning invisible but rather blending in to the background of whatever surrounds him.
  • This ability can be used in any form. While using this power the lycan continues to leave a scent trail and can be heard, he is just significantly harder to spot visibly.
• Enforcer/Bodyguard - The lycanthrope has an instinctive know-how when it comes to leg breaking or physically correcting problems and carrying out its objectives.
  • The lycanthrope also gains an instinctive ability to put himself between harm and someone he is trying to protect, stepping into the path of a bullet or a punch, taking the injury for another.
• Mask Scent - The lycanthrope is able to suppress its scent, making it unsmellable and significantly harder to track by sense of smell alone.
• Resist Coma - The lycanthrope gains the ability to resist or hold off a shift coma. This may be necessary in order to find a safe place, or because of dangerous circumstances, but in any event the lycanthrope does not suffer a shift coma immediately after returning to its human form.

Rank Abilties (Alpha)

• Mindblock - The Alpha lycanthrope is able to shrug off the emotionally manipulative powers of vampires, and the bulk of their mental powers, able to meet the eyes of most vampires without fear of being rolled by them.
  • Very powerful vampires may be an exception to this resistance.
• Thrash - Betas are often the sergeants to the various alpha within their pack, and it falls to them to keep the rest of the group in line.
  • The lycanthrope with this power is able to extend a lash or whip of spiritual energy and use this energy on its fellow lycanthropes, whipping their beasts into line and encouraging obedience and submission.
• Share Pain - Shifting shapes is a painful process. Lycanthropes with this ability are able to make others feel the pain of the shift without changing shapes.
  • The target of this power suffers as if it were a lycanthrope, but experiences only the agony of the shift.
• Falling Touch - The lycanthrope with this power is capable of sending people flying with the merest touch.
  • This power throws the touched person as if the lycanthrope had actually thrown the target with its body and it can be combined with physical combat.
  • Individuals thrown with this power are usually dazed by it, stunned temporarily.
• Find Threat - The Beta lycanthrope is able to sense individuals which could threaten itself or its group.
  • Note, that this power does not differentiate between an active threat or a passive threat. A vampire that can call the lycanthropes beast type will register as a threat regardless of whether or not the vampire is using that power or intends to use it.
• Ward the Animal - Betas are often the watch dogs of their groups, tasked with keeping an eye on both the Omegas beneath them and the Alphas above.
  • Betas with this power are able to undermine a vampire's ability to call an animal, requiring the vampire to put more power into the call before it becomes effective.

Rare Powers

• Battery - The lycanthrope has an extra store of energy which they can use to change their shapes more often, or as a desperate last push of effort in dire circumstances
• Ignore the Summons - The lycanthrope with this power is completely able to ignore and resist the summons and commands of a vampire that can call its type.
• Claim Turf - The lycanthrope can claim an area as its 'turf' or its domain and marks his territory with scratches and scents. While these marks are physical, there are metaphysical signs that go with it.
  • Lycanthropes, Shifters, and Skinwalkers know automatically when they enter the area claimed by this power, something in their bestial natures recognizing the claim of territory.
  • Multiple lycanthropes with this ability can work together in order to claim more ground as their turf. Working by himself a lycan can claim about a square mile worth of territory.
  • While within its turf, the lycanthrope benefits from a sort of psychic claim over it. People assume he belongs there and don't pay much attention to the lycanthrope unless the lycanthrope draws attention to itself. If the lycanthrope does draw attention to itself, people tend to react as if the lycanthrope was a figure worthy of great respect, fear, or adoration.
• Retain Magic - The lycanthrope manages to hang on to some of its magical gifts from before it became a lycanthrope, after it is infected and changed. The Lycanthrope retains a single source and two magical techniques. This power can only be selected once.
  • Source: Blood- The magician uses blood to fuel his power. This can be his own, or it can be someone elses.
    • Passive Power: Blood Storage - The magician becomes capable of storing blood in a specially prepared vessel. This vessel can be anything but must have a lid or a flap to cover the blood. So long as the blood is in this vessel, it will not rot or clot, nor will it spill out of the vessel if overturned accidentally.
    • Weakness - If the magician loses its store of blood it cannot use the magical technique(s) linked to that source with the same degree of strength.
  • Technique: Destruction - The deployment of magic in order to destroy people, places, objects, and things. When people think of magician warriors, this is what they're referring. Magic which is used to destroy. This technique also encompasses magic used for combat applications.
  • Technique: Healing - The art of using magical power in order to heal injuries, cure diseases, and soothe restless souls.
• Turn Silver - The lycanthrope is able to resist the effects of silver to a certain degree, working through the pain that the metal causes. This does not change how much damage is done to the lycan but improves the lycan's ability to cope with the damage and heal from it.

Breed Powers

• Innate Breed Power: Adorable - The weremustelid radiates a level of cuteness and adorability that puts other predators and prey at ease as they do not view the mustelid as a threat.
• Scamper - The mustelid is able to put on a burst of speed in order to flee a predator, run up walls, or to launch a surprise attack against an unsuspecting victim.
• Wolverine's Rage - The lycan can willingly enter a berserk frenzy, ignoring wounds, injury, and pain to lash out at everything around them.
• Marten's Grip - With this power the mustelid is able to climb with the same nibble dexterity of the pine marten, but can climb any surface and do so with a precise fluid grace.
• Iron Paw - The lycanthrope can grow wicked looking claws that do greater damage and slows down the regenerative capabilities (if any) of those struck with the claws.
  • If this power is combined with Burrow the lycanthrope can dig through any material with the same rapidity.

Rare Breed Powers

• Block Magic - Weremustelids are harder to effect with magic than other beings, their minds and bodies alike not willing to accept the reality of magic or the effect of the spell. While they can still be affected by magic, it takes more power and more energy to do so.
  • Weremustelids can extend this protection to someone for a full day, but they lose it themselves when they do so.
• Greater Tenacity - The weremustelid's constitution hardens again, rendering the beast resistant to supernatural poisons, venoms, and diseases. Such powers may knock the beast out for a period of time but will not kill the lycanthrope. The lycanthrope no longer needs to sleep for more than a couple of hours a night, and is seemingly tireless and inexhaustible. The lycanthrope also no longer feels pain and will heal faster than other lycanthropes.
• Burrow - The weremustelid is capable of burrowing through or into the earth with incredible speeds.
• Keep on Fighting - Long after others have fled or died, the berserker spirit of the wolverine drives the lycanthrope onward. The weremustelid will not stop fighting until it is dead or its limbs are removed. The beast cannot be stunned or knocked unconscious.