Piper90 Draft

[credit_not_blame]

APPLICATION

Player Name/Handle: Kaylin
Plurk Handle: owls_in_moss
Player Status: New Player
Other characters: Aziraphale
Invited by: Korel

Character Name: Anastacia "Stacia" Novik (Anastacia Vasilisa Georgievna Novik)
Fandom: Werewolf: the Apocalypse
Character Journal: credit_not_blame
Canon, AU, CRAU, or OC? Canon universe
Canon point: Shortly after she attained the rank of Athro.
PB: Natalia Dyer

SETTING BACKGROUND
Werewolf: the Apocalypse is Captain Planet, except instead of five multicultural teenagers with magic rings working together to summon a shiny blue dude with super powers, it's about a world-wide population of secret eco-terrorist furries who can barely stop fighting each other long enough to fight their actual enemies.

More seriously, it's a story about holding onto hope when you're fighting a losing battle to save the world, and making hard choices about what's important to hold on to and what you need to let go of. You're stronger, faster, and more resilient than the average person, but with great power comes great responsibility, and the only people who can teach you about it are part of a traditionalist and violent apocalypse cult who are more than happy to kill you if you step out of line.

Garou can be born as humans, wolves, or to two Garou parents (this is forbidden, but still happens). Their role within Garou society is determined by the phase of the moon under which they are born (i.e. new moon = Ragabash = questioner, scout, assassin). Their Tribe is somewhat linked to their heritage and ethnicity, but also describes their approach to the war and Garou Society.

HISTORY
➤ Georgiy and Rada Novik immigrated from Russia to the United States in the late 1980's when they were pregnant with their eldest child, Lyudmila. Two years later, they had a son, Nikolay. Eight years later, Anastacia - Stacia for short - was born.

➤ Growing up, Stacia had sufficiently low Rage that it didn't discomfit most people around her, though it did probably impact how frequently her peers were willing to let her have her way. She took up cross-country running, finding it pleasant and meditative.

➤ In her freshman year, Stacia's Homecoming date assaulted her, causing her to shift for the first time. He died as a result, and his death was covered up by the Garou who found her. She still has nightmares about it, in spite of having seen (and done) more horrible things since.

➤ Stacia was taken under the wing of a Silver Fang called Ace, and to a lesser extent, a Shadow Lord called Eddy Stormhowl and a Glass Walker called Bulletproof. After a lot of questions and deliberation, she chose to join the Shadow Lords, the tribe of politicians and manipulators.

➤ When attempting to return a mysteriously killed spirit to the Cycle of life, Stacia inadvertently dissolved it on twenty-five tadpoles birthed by an amphibian shifter to another Garou. All of them shifted, including one who went from being a frog to being a wolf, due to the type of spirit and having been at the very top. Stacia announced that she would take credit but not blame for the incident, and offered to babysit.

➤ The archangel Michael decided that all the supernatural creatures needed to be killed because reality had broken a little and demons had started to get through the cracks. Stacia was chosen by the archangel Raphael to try to talk him out of it. They succeeded, and reality was repaired...to the point that most normal people don't remember a lot of that year, because shit got crazy.

➤ Stacia met a young man named Sam who didn't know that he was Shadow Lord kinfolk. She looped him in on the existence of Garou and the two of them started dating. Sam also took up hunting Wyrm creatures in his free time, which wouldn't annoy Stacia nearly so much if he didn't keep doing it by himself.

➤ Rada revealed to Stacia that she was aware of Garou in general and that Stacia was a Garou. Stacia had figured out earlier that her Garou heritage came through her (Silver Fang kinfolk) mother, but had been keeping it secret because she'd thought Rada had repressed the knowledge out of trauma. The two of them fought, because Stacia resented not having been warned of her potential to shift.

➤ Ace brought Stacia and the rest of their pack to what was supposed to be a Silver Fang only meeting. As a result, they were targeted by Silver Fangs who felt that it was inappropriate for "lesser" Tribes to have witnessed that meeting. Bares-His-Fangs (a Red Talon) and Lilly Rockfinder (a Bone Gnawer) were both killed, and Bulletproof went into hiding.

➤ While Lilly was murdered, Stacia was attacked in her own home by the above Silver Fangs. Her limbs were cut off with silver and then burned so that they couldn't be healed.

➤ Due to a Mage ally, Stacia was healed anyway, though not without cost. Ace made a deal with a Pooka (one of the Fae) to find out who had attacked her and killed their packmates.

➤ Stacia had dinner with the leader of the Shadow Lords, then spent the next 6 weeks tormenting her attackers psychologically before causing them to go into a Frenzy that left four of the six of them dead. Of the survivors, one was demoted due to her crimes, and the other was executed due to his.

PERSONALITY
What is the character's personality like? Please take care to talk about both their thoughts and motivations and their outward actions. For AUs and CRAUs, please note how their development diverges from canon.

(Please keep this under 1000 words.)

Stacia will tell you to your face that she's a manipulative, selfish little brat. She has a short temper, a long memory, and a weakness for flattery. She's also deeply empathetic, and believes strongly in the importance of showing compassion to those in need or pain. She will always give someone a chance – but if they blow it, they're going to have to make amends before she gives them another. For all that she still wears miniskirts and low wedge heels for day-tripping in the woods, she also maintains a practical streak that has saved her on more than one occasion.

As a Questioner of the Ways, Stacia has decided that it's her duty to make people think about what they're doing and why, to hopefully prevent them from doing something stupid (Garou history is full of that). She believes strongly in personal choice and deciding one’s own fate rather than relying on dictation by outside sources.

Garou are all fueled by a wellspring of supernatural rage, and Stacia is no exception. Stacia previously was reluctant to explore her Rage, as she felt what she had very strongly and worried that she was already half-monster and at risk of becoming worse. After she was attacked and her packmates were killed, Stacia decided to embrace being a monster so that other monsters will fear her. However, just because she's a monster doesn't mean that she has to be a monster all the time - in fact, she prefers not to be.

Stacia will remind people that she became a Shadow Lord "on purpose", rather than because of her family or breeding. The Shadow Lords are the politicians and the backroom wheelers and dealers, the ones willing to get their hands dirty in ways the other tribes wouldn't. Stacia's decision was largely one of self-preservation: she wants power to protect herself from ending up one more warm body for the meat grinder. Additionally, Shadow Lords also tend to wield power in the human world, and Stacia has no intention of giving up her human life to live in the woods full time.

While not a pacifist by any means, Stacia responds to careless violence with withering scorn or a furious "what the hell is wrong with you?" Violence is a tool to be used deftly and precisely, not spread around with a big shovel. Her preferred method of combat is climbing a tree with a sniper rifle and taking opponents down from afar, but she's also capable of fighting with knives, claws, and teeth. She knows that she can't always choose the range at which combat takes place, and would prefer not to die as a result of over-specialization.

Stacia's first instinct in dangerous situations is to fall back and call for back up. She's reluctant to abandon others in dangerous situations, but not so much that she'll run in without a plan. Abandoning her in a dangerous situation is a fast way to get on her bad side, and it's very difficult to get off of her bad side once you're there.

People tend to like Stacia, sometimes against their better judgment. She has a way of endearing herself to people, especially those in power or who she thinks may be useful. She does genuinely care for the people she befriends, and is not unloyal to them, but she also won't hesitate to create distance to protect herself if they screw up or start behaving in ways that could damage her own standing.

Stacia has calmed down over the last few years regarding the weird, ridiculous, and infuriating things that happen to and around her. She'll stomp and pout and complain, but these days it's more "I'll get over it, I just have to be dramatic about it first" than a tantrum.

CANON POWERS
If they have superpowers in canon please list a full list of them here just so we have them somewhere, even if you're not using them in game.

Shapeshifting: Stacia has five forms she can shift into: Homid (human, silver doesn’t harm Stacia in this form as it would in her others), Glabro (hulking humanoid that can only be mistaken for human in dim light, think the beta werewolves on MTV's Teen Wolf), Crinos (8-foot-tall wolf-monster with claws and opposable thumbs, basically what you get when you google "werewolf"), Hispo (direwolf AKA a wolf the size of a small pony), and Lupus (wolf).
It is difficult for Stacia to do so, but when enraged or terrified past the point of control, it is possible that Stacia will Frenzy: automatically shift to Crinos or Hispo and try to destroy or flee from the cause until either she no longer feels that she is in danger or she has exhausted herself. This takes approximately 12 seconds, but that's 12 seconds of dealing with a super-strong, super-fast, super-durable monster that was spiritually designed to be really good at making things dead.

Supernatural Healing: Unless in Homid form, Stacia heals within minutes from any injuries not caused by silver, fire, radiation, or the claws or teeth of other supernatural creatures; and even injuries from those causes heal within a week if she’s allowed to rest. However, if she is in her Homid form, she heals at the same rate a regular human does.

Rite of Talisman Dedication: This mystical rite allows her to bind objects to her spiritual essence so that she doesn't lose or destroy them when she shifts. She uses it to avoid the "naked" problem.

Gifts that are "always on"
Aura of Confidence: Stacia projects an aura of superiority, preventing attempts to find flaws or read auras (but not to read the werewolf’s thoughts).

Seizing the Edge: Shadow Lords don't acknowledge the idea of the draw. If neither competitor wins, then they both lose. This Gift allows Stacia to swing the balance, ever so slightly, in her favor.

Salaryman: Given a group of three or more humans or human-like creatures, it is very easy to lose track of Stacia. She blends in easily with a crowd, even if she's bleeding heavily and wearing a clown mask.

Spirit Speech: this Gift allows Stacia to intuitively understand and speak with spirits. Particularly alien spirits may be difficult, or even painful, to understand.

Pulse of the Prey: If Stacia knows anything about her prey — even a nickname, initials, or crude description — she can track it as fast as she can travel.
* requires a roll if target is actively hiding.

Gifts that must be activated
Persuasion: this Gift imbues Stacia's words with intrinsic credibility and conviction (requires activation).

Shadow Weaving: Flexing her fingers/claws, Stacia can warp shadows within 100 yards as she wishes. This can aid in her being stealthy and intimidating, among other things.

Blur of the Milky Eye: Stacia becomes a shimmering, indistinct blur, as though seen through heavy cataracts — even in the midday sun. She is not truly invisible, and if spotted, this Gift’s protection fails until the observer is distracted.

Fatal Flaw: Stacia must study an opponent for a full turn (approximately six seconds) to learn their physical weaknesses, granting an advantage in combat.

Open Seal: Stacia can open nearly any sort of closed or locked physical device. If it is sealed with magic, Stacia must make a spiritual effort.

Hush: this Gift makes the target fumble for words, lose their train of thought or become momentarily distracted.

Slip of the Tongue: Stacia can engage the target in a conversation relating to a suspected crime or action, causing the target accidentally remark on what they wish to hide.

Whisper Catching: Stacia may supernaturally eavesdrop on whispered conversations within 200 feet.

Jam Technology: With a slight gesture, Stacia unbalances the energies within technological devices, either tipping them into destructive chaos or causing them to lock up. The more complex the device, the easier it is to unbalance: computers are relatively easy, knives are very difficult.

Paranoia: This Gift gives Stacia a heightened sense of awareness, and also reveals a few details about the enemies she's about to face.

Liar's Face: Stacia may make a single truthful statement, and no human who hears it will believe her.

Rooftop Sprint: can jump up or down one story (3 meters) or 3 meters horizontally, without danger or difficulty, until she touches the ground at street level.

Taking the Forgotten: Stacia can steal something from a target and cause them to forget that they ever possessed the stolen item.

Speech of the World: Stacia may speak and understand any human language she encounters, though she speaks with an obvious accent, marking her as an outsider.

Blissful Ignorance: Stacia can become completely invisible to all senses, spirits or monitoring devices by remaining still.

Cold Voice of Reason: a clever remark will divert briefly an attacker from attacking Stacia.

Luna's Armor: Stacia invokes the moon’s sacred power and her body is briefly wreathed in a shimmer of moonlight, granting her Luna’s protection. This is the only way she can resist damage from silver.

Silence: Stacia can muffle any sound she makes, the better to creep up on an enemy or escape unnoticed.

Command Spirit: Stacia can give commands to spirits she meets and expect obedience. As always when dealing with spirits, clear wording is essential, as some clever spirits may attempt to twist the spirit of issued commands while obeying them to the letter. The spirit cannot be ordered to leave a place or object to which it is bound.

True Fear: Stacia displays her full, terrifying might — baring teeth or claws, howling, or simply looming ominously over a foe. Terror strikes one foe into quiescence.

Direct the Storm: Stacia can direct the primal instincts of a Garou in Frenzy, friend or foe, causing him to attack targets of her choice. Using this Gift on a Garou in the Thrall of the Wyrm is possible, but doing so may also cause Stacia to Frenzy.

Cowing the Bullet: The spirits of tools recognize man as their master; as a result, they become reluctant to harm Stacia. Weapons not made of silver do Stacia less damage.

Calm the Savage Beast: This Gift allows Stacia to lend a Garou in Frenzy the will to escape their Rage’s hold. With extra effort, this Gift may affect non-Garou in a state of frenzy, such as other shapeshifters or vampires.

Divide: Stacia can exacerbate divisions between individuals or groups. Note that the Gift cannot actually create anger and divisions; they must already exist to be exploited. It is even more potent when used against creatures with Rage.

Icy Chill of Despair: Stacia appears to grow larger and more imposing, becoming a terrible, shadowy version of herself. This change in aspect can severely intimidate any onlookers.

Liar's Craft: Stacia can tell the most outrageous of lies and have them accepted as truth — for a while, at least.

Impunity: With this Gift, Stacia may tell a respected leader they screwed up without becoming a target of their ire. The statement must be clearly and completely true from Stacia's point of view, no prevarication or double entendres are possible.

Only Applicable in the World of Darkness
Open Moon Bridge: Stacia can open a moon bridge, with or without the permission of the totem of that caern, no more than 1000 miles away.

Sense Wyld: Stacia can sense nearby manifestations of the Wyld, the spiritual embodiment of creation. This Gift involves a mystical sense, not a visual or olfactory image. It does not necessarily sense dedication to the Wyld, merely contact with its spiritual essence.

Sense Wyrm: Stacia can sense nearby manifestations of the Wyrm, the spiritual embodiment of entropy and destruction. This Gift involves a mystical sense, not a visual or olfactory image. It does not necessarily sense dedication to the Wyrm, merely contact with its spiritual essence, which can cling to even blameless souls.

POWER SELECTION
Canon Superpowers:
Stacia will only have access to her shapeshifting and supernatural healing abilities in game, rather than any of the abilities that she's learned from other shifters or from spirits. She will also be able to perform the Rite of Talisman Dedication.

During missions deemed appropriate by the Mod, Stacia may be able to access her "always on" gifts: Aura of Confidence, Seizing the Edge, Salaryman, Spirit Speech, and Pulse of the Prey.

ABILITIES

Shooting (rifle and pistol), sneaking, brawling with claws and teeth (not so much with fists), knife-fighting, screaming very loudly, computer programming, pick-pocketing, grifting, bossing people around, wilderness survival, field medicine, a will strong enough to resist mind control, a knack for talking her way out of trouble, upper-class European etiquette, cross country running (on two- and four legs), and wearing heels in the woods.

SETTING/SUITABILITY

➤ How do you expect your character to respond to the setting? Even if they plan to rebel in the long term, will they be able to at least obey enough to not get shocked to death?
Stacia will be incandescent with fury over what Jorgmund is doing, but she knows better than to tell them so to their faces or do anything that will get her killed. She'll bond quickly with the other "new hires"; Garou are meant to form packs and she doesn't like not having some kind of back up. Jorgmund won't have much outright trouble from her unless it's a big push from the New Hires as a whole, but she won't be enforcing any orders when 'unsupervised'.

➤ What do you hope to do with your character long-term?
I'd like Stacia to rediscover how to work with people she can't just Mean Girl into getting her way. I'd also like for her to be able to talk some of her shit through: the Garou lifestyle doesn't lend itself to theraputic treatment, and she worries that she's losing who she is as a person.

➤ Does your character currently have skills that would allow them to adapt, survive, and do the heroic things being asked of them? If your character doesn't, do you think they'd have the capacity to learn quickly?
Stacia is absolutely prepared to adapt, survive, and do heroic things, certainly more than someone would expect from looking at her. She's meant to fight against the end of the world, and she's certainly not going to stop just because some jerks are forcing her to do it.

➤ If they're not used to cooperating with others, what makes you think they'll be able to adapt to cooperating with the group?
She's absolutely used to cooperating with others - Garou are as effective as they are because they can and do work together, and Stacia has had practice working with other shifters and supernatural beings outside of the Garou Nation. The hardest part will probably be remembering she can't just slap people upside the head as frequently as she wants to.

➤ Will your character have long-term plans to rebel against Jorgmund? If so, how? Will they betray the other PCs and cooperate with Jorgmund? If so, how do you plan to handle the negative CR that might arise?
Stacia will absolutely rebel against Jorgmund in the long-term, and honestly probably in the short-term too. She strongly dislikes being controlled, especially by the sort of people who'd implant an internal shock collar in her.

SAMPLES

Network Sample

[Any of her "new co-workers" would probably be surprised to see such a small and delicate girl strapped so securely into this chair. Stacia tests her bonds, but they've done a very good job securing her. Tearing herself free would be very difficult.]

[Looks like Jorgmund is taking her much more seriously than they were. Shame. She'd been trying to play it cool, butter them up, make them under-estimate her. But then they'd decided to demonstrate that internal shock collar and well--]

[They'd put her in fresh clothes, but there's definitely blood under her nails. And her interviewer looks like he'd rather be anywhere but here. She gives him her sweetest, most doe-eyed look.]

My nose itches. Could you scratch it for me?

[Nope, buddy is not putting his hand anywhere near her face. Also, definitely not buying the cute-innocent-me act. Stacia switches gears, letting the innocence fall and replacing it with cool disdain. She raises one eyebrow at the first "interview question".]

A wolf. If I were a plant or animal, I'd be a wolf. Because--

[She tries to gesture to all of her, but comes up short against her restraints.]

--Because I'm a werewolf. Obviously.

[He seems willing to accept that, possibly because he'd like to be outside of this room so he can pee himself in peace. The next question seems safe enough to answer completely honestly.]

I like my father's steadiness most, and his lack of curiosity least. And I like that my mother is protective, but I hate that she's a liar.

[There. Implies that Stacia hates lying, right? Not just that she hates being lied to, especially about her own life.]

If I were a crayon, I'd definitely be a shade of fuchsia. I'm very eye-catching, and I really pull a whole picture together.

[It'd be nice to know whether their lie detector worked at all. How could you even lie about what crayon color you'd be, that's completely subjective. Stacia could just as easily argue that she'd be silver or red or one of those marbled one you get when you melt broken pieces down to make a new crayon.]

[Then he asks about her biggest regret and oh buddy, no.]

Do you want to repeat that?

[No. No he does not want to repeat it, she can practically smell it rolling off of him. He does anyway. She swallows the urge to say that she regrets getting pulled into this disaster. She doesn't want to be too rude about Jorgmund out loud until they can't hurt her anymore.]

Let's just say my biggest regret is that I can't enjoy barbecue anymore. The smell makes me gag.

[It's not her biggest regret no, but they're not getting her biggest regret. Her inability to eat barbecue is tied into one of her bigger regrets, but it's not the biggest. She stares her interviewer down, daring him to call her out on that.]

[He doesn't. Either the lie detector isn't, or he's a sensible man who doesn't trust Jorgmund's ability to put her down before she gets her hands on him. Instead, he goes for the fifth (and, he assures her, final) question.]

My greatest flaw?

[Stacia smiles with all her teeth.

I've got a short fuse. Or so I've been told. I think I'm handling things very well, don't you?

Prose Sample
You may use a test drive thread, use the following prompt, link to a sample in another game or public psl, or make up your own. If you use a Test Drive thread, at least one post made by your character in the thread must meet the 200 word minimum.

Your character is taken into a large gym area, with all kinds of equipment, weapons, and other items, and told they have to demonstrate a talent in front of a group of corporate executives and middle management. This can be everything from acrobatics, to combat (which they can demonstrate on rudimentary, moving combat dummies they can destroy), to singing, to flower arranging. They'll be given nearly any items they ask for to demonstrate this talent. The executives are hard to impress, however, and are prone to barely paying attention, so the character will have to be sure to verbally present themselves. (Or yell, or plead for freedom, or etc. etc.)

(200 word minimum, 600 word maximum)

ADDITIONAL INFO
Any additional info you think it's important to include. You can use this space to ask the mods if certain weapons, gear, belongings, or animal companions can be brought into the game with the character.

FINAL QUESTIONS
The players won't know what the mods are doing with these questions until sometime later.

➤ Will your character suspect some kind of guiding intelligence has brought them to the game? Or will they think it was random or done by Jorgmund?
Stacia would put money on "wrong place, wrong time" for how she ended up here, but she wouldn't put it past one of the higher level spirits to have arranged this. She's had some experience being a "chosen one" before, but without someone other than Jorgmund stepping in to claim credit, she won't assume that she's been "chosen" again. She will also be completely certain that Jorgmund is just taking advantage of something that was dropped in their laps.

➤ If they think it was something other than Jorgmund, like God or some other force of fate, what character traits do they think of that intelligence as having? Is it cruel or kind? Capriciously punishing them or doing it for good reason?
Of all the high level spirits Stacia knows of, she is most likely to assume that Coyote is behind her ending up here. Coyote is a trickster, a teacher, and a chaotic good asshole. "Good" doesn't mean "nice" though, and what Coyote has decided is "good" may not be what's good for her.