Seven Veils Toccata

Seven Veils Toccata

Concept: Courtesan Assassin, Caste: Night Anima: A whirling tornado, with flashes of lightening, rolling thunder, and smaller cyclones breaking off from the primary storm

Attributes
Strength	••		Charisma	••••		Perception	•••
Dexterity	•••••		Manipulation	••••		Intelligence	•••
Stamina	••		Appearance	•••		Wits	•••

Abilities
Archery	•		Athletics	•••
Awareness	•••		Brawl
Bureaucracy			Craft	•• (Apothecary)
Dodge			Integrity	•
Investigation	•••		Larceny	••••
Linguistics	•		Lore	•
Martial Arts	•••• (Ebon Shadow Style)		Medicine	••
Melee			Occult	•
Performance	•••		Presence	•••
Resistance	•		Ride	•
Sail	•		Socialize	•••
Stealth	••••		Survival
Thrown			War
Other Abilities: None Caste Abilities: Athletics, Awareness, Investigation, Larceny, Stealth Favored Abilities: (Brawl), Integrity, Martial Arts, Performance, Presence, Socialize Supernal Ability: Stealth

Other Traits

Willpower: 5

Merits: Backing (Order of the Broken Mask) ••, Danger Sense •••, Eidetic Memory ••, Language • (High Realm), Resources •, Martial Arts ••••, Ambidextrous •

Flaws:

Exaltation Traits

Essence: 1 • Personal Motes: 13 • Peripheral Motes: 33 • Invested Motes: 4

Dampen Anima: 2m. Treat all Peripheral Essence expenditures as though they were Personal for one instant. Negate Stealth Penalties: 3m. Ignore up to (Essence or 3, whichever is higher) points worth of penalties to Stealth. This expenditure is always considered Personal. Bonfire Disguise: Bonfire. Anima hides form and visage in flame, becoming a fearsome silhouette wreathed in evening flames. Perfect effects, and cannot be pierced by all-seeing magics.

Limit: 0 • Limit Trigger: When I see suffering caused by an abuse of power and am unable or unwilling to immediately pursue and punish.

Intimacies

Minor (+2) • Major (+3) • Defining (+4)

Principles

Credo: There is nothing more precious than Innocence - Defining Credo: The purpose of power is to do good. - Major Credo: Hypocrisy shatters lives and I shatter hypocrites - Major Credo: When secrets are your swords, never be disarmed - Major

Ties

Ari Arisson - Sick Bastard - Major - Vengeful Aldimar - A Pure Soul - Minor - Protective Eetu - Allies with Benefits - Minor - Respect Eunkeo - Kind kinswoman - Minor - Gratitude Order of the Broken Mask - Major - Loyalty Arvid - My sweet brother - Minor - Protective Eydis - My lost sister - Minor - Grief Scarlet Empress - Idealized - Minor - Warm Fuzzies Jod - Mastercraftsman - Minor - Impressed Ryken - Martial Prowess - Minor - Respect Family who Shunned Me - Minor - Hurt Resentment

Combat Traits

Health Levels: -0 • -1 • -1 • -1 • -2 • -2 • -2 • -4 • INC

Soak: Silken Armor Natural: 2 • Armored: 5 • Total: 7 • Hardness: 4

Defenses: Parry: 5 / 6 • Evasion: 3 • Resolve: 2 • Guile: 4

Weapons
Weapon	Accuracy	Damage	Defense	Overw
Bejeweled Dagger	+4	+7	+0	1
Tags:	Lethal, Melee, Thrown (Short)
Fighting Chain disguised as a sash	+2	+9	+1	1
Tags:	Bashing, Martial Arts, Disarming, Flexible, Grappling, Reaching
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Charms

Toccata Charms Excellencies: Athletics, Awareness, Investigation, Larceny, Martial Arts, Presence, Performance, Resistance, Socialize, Stealth Athletics: Lightning Speed, Graceful Crane,Feather Foot Style Awareness: Sensory Acuity Prana Larceny: Seasoned Criminal Method Martial Arts - Ebon Shadow Style: Nothing But Shadows, Seven Points of Weakness Strike, Ebon Shadow Form Resistance: Durability of Oak, Ox Body Technique Performance: Masterful Performance Exercise Presence: Listener Swaying Argument Socialize: Mastery of Small Manners Stealth: Perfect Shadow Stillness, Blinding Battle Feint,Stalking Wolf Attitude, Easily Overlooked Presence

Experience

General

Experience Total: 25 Stalking Wolf Attitude, Larceny 3*, Int 3, Larceny 4 Experience Unspent: 0

Solar

Experience Total: 17 Larceny 2, Brawl 1, Sail 1, Archery 1, Larceny 3*, Investigation 3, Athletics 3 Experience Unspent: 1

Crafting

Experience Total: x Experience Unspent: x

Origin

So kind of you to show interest in one such as myself.

...simper, Svana, they all eat it right up...

I have lived here for some years, as you know, and I have met the most...

...add a caress here, it reroutes the blood from the brain to other, less dangerous places...

... fascinating people. My story is rather dull...

...after all, the noble-born assassin disguised as a renowned courtesan, one Seven Veils Toccata in this rendition, is so passe, who would be interested? The only twist is that I am not motivated by greed or spite... well, not usually spite, anyway...

...Are you sure you want to hear it? Very well. It is all very boring, but...

...and, if it's boring enough, you will drop it, and if I have to drop your pants, well, that's life...

I come from a decent enough background, my mother was a concubine...

...oh, if Mother ever heard this, she would have me dragged home just to Shun me again! Why she is the third daughter of House Blær! If anything, she always felt that Father - may his reincarnation be glorious - was her consort and lucky to have her!

... to a noble in Frozen Principalities. I shan't say which, of course, but he was very generous with his child. I was educated and given something of a dowry when I matured, and I left to find my own place in Creation.

...let's not mention the betrothal, the bastard, the scandal, and the Shunning, shall we? Certainly not. Now, bring it back to him...

It is such a big world...

...vulnerability always sells! Oh, and widen your eyes a bit... there!

... I sometimes feel rather lost in it!

...yuck, that is actually a little too true. Well, verisimilitude is useful...

I have many friends, of course, but I still long for the feeling of being safe and protected.

...safe? Is there any such thing? Maybe not... but not because I don't try! And, if I can't protect, I can always avenge...

I am sure you have never felt that way - you are a trained warrior, accustomed to asserting your will with force and determination.Sometimes I wish...

...let that hang right there. Ah, the young, vulnerable, wistful woman, equal parts Madonna and Whore. Which intrigues you more, Captain? Now, a brave smile and...

It is cold tonight, Captain. And, I find I am tired. Will you escort me home? It is unwise for a young woman to be out alone at night.

...and, now, to decide. Do I let him seduce me, or leave him panting with a virginal kiss? I think... frustration clouds judgement quite nicely...

Intimacies

• Ari Arisson - That Sick Bastard ..... Major - Vengeful
• Aldimar - A Pure Soul - Minor - Protective
  
• Eetu - Allies with Benefits - Minor - Respect
  
• Eunkeo - Kind kinswoman - Minor - Gratitude
  
• Order of the Broken Mask - Major - Loyalty
  
• Arvid - My sweet brother - Minor - Protective
  
• Eydis - My lost sister - Minor - Grief
  
• Scarlet Empress - Idealized - Minor - Warm Fuzzies
  
• Jod - Mastercraftsman - Minor - Impressed
  
• Ryken - Martial Prowess - Minor - Respect
  
• Family who Shunned Me - Minor - Hurt Resentment
  

• Credo: There is nothing more precious than Innocence - Defining
• Credo: The purpose of power is to do good. - Major
• Credo: Hypocrisy shatters lives and I shatter hypocrites - Major
• Credo: When secrets are your swords, never be disarmed - Major

Resources

Moneys:

Carried Equipment: Basic weapons, enough money for bribes, unexpected purchases, or similar expenses, a subtle mask that must be folded to be revealed as a mask rather than a handkerchief, a vial of poison, cosmetics that may be used for very basic disguise or to enhance her appearance.

Stored Equipment: All treasures listed below.

Person Items:

• The right clavicle of my sister, Eydis, carved with snowdrops, inlaid with silver, and a stanza of poetry. It is kept in a simple, strong box with a sturdy catch, but no lock or anything to draw the eye.

Gaia's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leafs a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Meru sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

• A simple scroll of calligraphy, with no illumination.

Where did you get such a dirty face,
My darling dirty-faced child?
I got it from crawling along in the dirt
And biting two buttons off Arvid’s shirt.
I got it from chewing the roots of a rose
And digging for clams in the yard with my nose.
I got it from peeking into a dark cave
And painting myself like a Icewalker brave.
I got it from playing with coal in the bin
And signing my name in the mud with my chin.
I got if from rolling around on the rug
And giving the horrible dog a big hug.
I got it from finding a lost silver mine
And eating sweet blackberries right off the vine.
I got it from skating and wrestling and tears
And from having more fun than you've had in years.

• A miniature of two children, a boy and a girl, holding hands and seated side by side. The girl is grinning with the kind of mischief any nanny would tremble to see, and the boy is looking off to one side, lost in thought.

Other Persons of Note

• Ari Arisson – former fiancé of Svana and one sick bastard. His father is Keeper of the Purse and his son is likely to succeed him. He is handsome, charming, and generous. He is well known for his kind heart and charity. He has endowed the House of Unfortunate Infants and Foundling Children, and ensures the children are given a basic education and only light work suitable for their age. At the time of Svana’s Shunning, he was an under-minister of the Purse. As a pillar of society, he is above both suspicion and reproach.

• Eunkeo is the wife of Svana’s cousin and not native to The Gilded Citadel, having been born in Shvartzvel to an Artisan family. While most of Creation would see little difference between her customs and manner, they are significant to any native of the city. She is a definite outsider, but has earned a place of honor of her own. The general consensus is that her birth should not be held against her. She is straightforward and frank, but never unkind. She is handsome, rather than beautiful, and already the mother of four children. When her family Shunner her, Eunkeo offered aid and compassion to Svanna and helped her escape the city alive.

• Eydis Ardisdottir and Arvid Erlingsson – the younger twin siblings of Svana – a girl and boy, respectively. Arvid was 9 at the time of the Shunning and his sister Eydis had died, apparently in an accident, about a year before. Always a bit quiet, Arvid became silent, not speaking for a season, except when screaming in his sleep. Svana took it upon herself to comfort him and try to heal his hurts. He enjoys riding his pony, drawing, and reading. Eydis was fearless and fierce – with a dagger at her belt and a sling in her hand at any time she was not being forced into lessons. She also enjoyed riding, sailing, and was the apple of the weaponmaster’s eye. She died suddenly, though no cause could be found.

• Erling and Ardis - the father and mother, respectively, of Svana. Ardis is the Third Daughter of House Blær, meaning she is the 3rd eldest daughter of her mother Ardis Haddrsdottir, matriarch of House Blær. House Blær is one of the leading Artisan families, and are as wealthy as they are prominent. Her mother is proud, though not unkind. She has high expectations, and believes that a true noble is one who will do any job, if it is necessary. This only means that she expects her offspring to be able to do everything – from riding, to reading, to scrubbing, to mending – and she has no time for shirkers. Svana was once scolded for not having broken nails, as she had been set to scrubbing pots and could not have done the job well without marring her nails.

• Erling married up, a member of minor nobility. This is not uncommon, as there are just not enough noble Houses to prevent inbreeding, and so he left his patronym behind and is simply Erling of House Blær. Their marriage was a happy one, with three children, and with only consensual affairs. A deep affection grew up between her parents, and Erling was an attentive and doting father. He and Svana were especially close, and his disappearance during the Season of Air 7 years before the Shunning left her lost and confused. She coped by mothering her younger siblings, ensuring they had the love her father had given her, in addition to the love of their mother. He has long been declared dead and Ardis had recently begun to entertain the thought of courtship and marriage again when The Shunning upended Svana’s life.

Projects, Goals and/or Downtime

• Take down Ari Arisson
• Establish Elivágar Shadowmask as a known entity

Secondary

Toccata's Journal

Appearance Seven Veils Toccata has platinum hair, very fair skin, and shockingly vivid blue eyes. She is slightly above average height for a woman in the North, with an athletic figure well suited to dancing or martial arts. Her breasts are not large, but lush. Her hands are long, tapering, and graceful. She has an elegant yet simple tattoo on her back.

Wish list: daiken (artifact knife), Larceny 4, Stamina 3, Flawlessly Impenetrable Disguise, Thousand Courtesan Ways