Post by Dae on Aug 31, 2007 1:01:28 GMT
Name: Marie-Céleste Vaucanson
Age: 39
Height: 5'9"
Build: Normal, despite her past and her training.
Looks: Marie-Céleste usually wears her deep red business dress. She has flowing blonde hair, and her body is heavily scarred. In particular, she has one huge scar on the right part of her face. She also likes to wear her ancient Spetsnaz officer jacket.
And a picture of her in her younger days, when she served in the Spetsnaz:
History: Marie-Céleste was born of a russian mother, and french father, in St-Petersburg, before the fall of the USSR. Young, she loved to play at being a soldier with her younger brother, Nikolaï. Despite their non-russian origins, both of them entered the Komsomol and eventually the Party itself, a feat quite rare for non-russians. Marie-Céleste held great importance to discipline and military order, and she decided to apply for entering the Spetsnaz, an elite corps of the russian army.
She succeeded, and managed to go through the extremely challenging training. She learned how to kill, how to handle weapons of all sorts, how to survive in hostile environments, but also how to resist torture and how to inflict it. When she finished her training, she was directly promoted the lieutenant, and her first assignment was Afghanistan. It was the year 1987.
The war was already being lost at that time, but Marie-Céleste and her troops fought with extreme ferocity, inflicting heavy casualties on military and civilian targets alike. Before the end of the year she was promoted to the rank of Captain, and was becoming hugely popular amongst her men. Though disaster struck shortly after, when her chopper was shot down by a Stinger missile. Marie-Céleste barely survived the crash, and was also severly burned. The recovery teams arrived fast, but the scars could remain forever, earning her the nickname "Fry Face" from her enemies.
The next year, a cease-fire was signed and the troops retreated out of the country. However Marie-Céleste was approached by a highly ranked party member. He asked her if she was willing to enlist in a secret operation to be lead in southern America, for which they were recruiting the most elite agents they could find. She agreed whole-heartedly. To her great surprise, her brother was also recruited for this operation. She hadn't heard of him for years.
The details of this operation, code-named "Heaven's Gate", were never disclosed, but it is known that the entire commando disappeared, and that something looking like a huge explosion was sighted over Amazonia at that time. Rumour has it that this operation involved a super-secret laboratory, and theft of anti-matter, but this is purely speculation.
Marie-Céleste survived however. All she remembers is waking up in the rain forest, all alone. She searched her brothers for days, weeks, but could never find him. Eventually she found her way out of Southern America, but instead of returning to the crumbling USSR, she chose to establish herself in Paris. Why that sudden change of loyalty? Why betraying the army she had chosen to join? No one knows, even if some have thought that she merely chose the most reasonable option: the Party was being removed from power and hunted down in Russia, so it was best for her to keep a low profile. This explanation, though likely, does not explain why she did not take part in the attempted coup d'état in 1991.
In Paris she worked quickly to establish the base of what would become a large-scale mafia network, often recruiting her former soldiers to form the backbone of her organization. During that period, it appeared clearly that the "Heaven's Gate" operation had had other effects on her. She had gained unnatural powers, and though she rarely used them, she quickly became feared for them.
She spent almost ten years in France, before something terrible happened. One by one, her men began dying, and her network began crumbling. Even though she did her best to identify the authors of the crimes, she was powerless to stop them. They struck fast, without leaving any trace behind them -except corpses. Her organization was being specifically targeted, and soon Marie-Céleste understood that the target was, in fact, her. The killers had simply been following the chain of command: first the henchmen, then the higher ranking ones, all the way up to the top: her.
She fled Paris as her last men were executed, knowing that she would never survive if she stayed. Eventually, she reached Blood City, unsure if she was safe at last, or not...
Race: Human
Friends: None, fore now.
Weapons: -Twin 9mm Sword Cutlass pistols.
-Old European-style sword (picture to come).
Powers:
Lvl 1 Power: Spetsnaz
Being a former elite soldier, Marie-Céleste is highly trained in all forms of hand-to-hand fighting (even though she dislikes it) and is an expert shooter. Her physical strength is also superior to the norm.
Lvl 2 Power: The Contract: Power has a Price
That is the power Marie-Céleste has been granted during the "Heaven's Gate" operation. It is extremely simple: She can manipulate water at her will, as it was a solid object she could shape in any way she wishes. She however needs to remain in physical contact with what she manipulates: if at any moment she doesn't touch it anymore, it becomes simple water again and collapses into a simple puddle of water. Note that she can't create the water. No water, no power.
But this comes with a terrible side-effect: each time she uses the power, she has to brand/burn herself. It's not something she does intentionnally: it's like a reflex. If she doesn't pay this "price", she will exhaust herself very quickly and begin panicking, and eventually die.
She feels pain from this branding/burning! It's not like she could casually use her power, brand herself, then do it again!
Lvl 3 Power: Water has Eyes
Marie-Céleste can use her power in a second way: she can use the water to spy on people. For this, she also need to be in contact with water, and will then be able to locate her target if it is standing near any form of liquid water. However her face will appear in the water, so if the target can be aware that he has been spotted (if he looks at her face).
This is also her Contract power, so the usual price is required each time she uses it.
Lvl 4 Power: Escape Artist
Without her expert, almost magical, skill at escaping from dangerous situations, Marie-Céleste would never have survived all that time.
She has the ability to pull herself out of many situations, often by the means of clever distractions, or decoys.
Lvl 5 Power: Cold as ice
Another effect of her Contract. She can freeze water she's manipulating. She needs to stay in contact while the object is being frozen, but once it's done, she can leave it, it will melt as normal ice. Note that she can't manipulate frozen water, and that she has to pay the usual price.
Lvl 6 Power: Sharp as diamond
Not only can Marie-Céleste manipulate water, but she can also use this power to create high-pressure jets of water, which can take the form she desires. The main problem is that she needs a real source of water for this, as it uses up a lot of water. A mere puddle won't be enough.
As usual, she has to pay the price when using this power.
Lvl 7 Power: Boiling Within
Another effect of her contract: Marie can use her power to make water boil if she's touching it. She doesn't need to be in direct contact with the liquid for this, she can have it heat up and boil by dipping, for example, her sword in it.
Since it would make her way too strong, Marie-Céleste can't use this power to boil the water inside people. However herself, while using this power, is immune to boiling liquids: she does not get burns or feel pain from them while the power is active.
Trivia:
Her name is made of two completely different things.
-The Marie-Céleste is a ghost ship in the french naval popular belief
-Vaucanson is the family name of the main character in a comic called "Dungeon" (he's a duck. Yes, a duck. And he eventually blows up the earth).
Favourite song: Red Fraction (Mell)
Her powers, and history, are widely inspired from two anime series: "Black Lagoon", for character design and russian origins, and "Darker than Black" for her Contract power.
Age: 39
Height: 5'9"
Build: Normal, despite her past and her training.
Looks: Marie-Céleste usually wears her deep red business dress. She has flowing blonde hair, and her body is heavily scarred. In particular, she has one huge scar on the right part of her face. She also likes to wear her ancient Spetsnaz officer jacket.
And a picture of her in her younger days, when she served in the Spetsnaz:
History: Marie-Céleste was born of a russian mother, and french father, in St-Petersburg, before the fall of the USSR. Young, she loved to play at being a soldier with her younger brother, Nikolaï. Despite their non-russian origins, both of them entered the Komsomol and eventually the Party itself, a feat quite rare for non-russians. Marie-Céleste held great importance to discipline and military order, and she decided to apply for entering the Spetsnaz, an elite corps of the russian army.
She succeeded, and managed to go through the extremely challenging training. She learned how to kill, how to handle weapons of all sorts, how to survive in hostile environments, but also how to resist torture and how to inflict it. When she finished her training, she was directly promoted the lieutenant, and her first assignment was Afghanistan. It was the year 1987.
The war was already being lost at that time, but Marie-Céleste and her troops fought with extreme ferocity, inflicting heavy casualties on military and civilian targets alike. Before the end of the year she was promoted to the rank of Captain, and was becoming hugely popular amongst her men. Though disaster struck shortly after, when her chopper was shot down by a Stinger missile. Marie-Céleste barely survived the crash, and was also severly burned. The recovery teams arrived fast, but the scars could remain forever, earning her the nickname "Fry Face" from her enemies.
The next year, a cease-fire was signed and the troops retreated out of the country. However Marie-Céleste was approached by a highly ranked party member. He asked her if she was willing to enlist in a secret operation to be lead in southern America, for which they were recruiting the most elite agents they could find. She agreed whole-heartedly. To her great surprise, her brother was also recruited for this operation. She hadn't heard of him for years.
The details of this operation, code-named "Heaven's Gate", were never disclosed, but it is known that the entire commando disappeared, and that something looking like a huge explosion was sighted over Amazonia at that time. Rumour has it that this operation involved a super-secret laboratory, and theft of anti-matter, but this is purely speculation.
Marie-Céleste survived however. All she remembers is waking up in the rain forest, all alone. She searched her brothers for days, weeks, but could never find him. Eventually she found her way out of Southern America, but instead of returning to the crumbling USSR, she chose to establish herself in Paris. Why that sudden change of loyalty? Why betraying the army she had chosen to join? No one knows, even if some have thought that she merely chose the most reasonable option: the Party was being removed from power and hunted down in Russia, so it was best for her to keep a low profile. This explanation, though likely, does not explain why she did not take part in the attempted coup d'état in 1991.
In Paris she worked quickly to establish the base of what would become a large-scale mafia network, often recruiting her former soldiers to form the backbone of her organization. During that period, it appeared clearly that the "Heaven's Gate" operation had had other effects on her. She had gained unnatural powers, and though she rarely used them, she quickly became feared for them.
She spent almost ten years in France, before something terrible happened. One by one, her men began dying, and her network began crumbling. Even though she did her best to identify the authors of the crimes, she was powerless to stop them. They struck fast, without leaving any trace behind them -except corpses. Her organization was being specifically targeted, and soon Marie-Céleste understood that the target was, in fact, her. The killers had simply been following the chain of command: first the henchmen, then the higher ranking ones, all the way up to the top: her.
She fled Paris as her last men were executed, knowing that she would never survive if she stayed. Eventually, she reached Blood City, unsure if she was safe at last, or not...
Race: Human
Friends: None, fore now.
Weapons: -Twin 9mm Sword Cutlass pistols.
-Old European-style sword (picture to come).
Powers:
Lvl 1 Power: Spetsnaz
Being a former elite soldier, Marie-Céleste is highly trained in all forms of hand-to-hand fighting (even though she dislikes it) and is an expert shooter. Her physical strength is also superior to the norm.
Lvl 2 Power: The Contract: Power has a Price
That is the power Marie-Céleste has been granted during the "Heaven's Gate" operation. It is extremely simple: She can manipulate water at her will, as it was a solid object she could shape in any way she wishes. She however needs to remain in physical contact with what she manipulates: if at any moment she doesn't touch it anymore, it becomes simple water again and collapses into a simple puddle of water. Note that she can't create the water. No water, no power.
But this comes with a terrible side-effect: each time she uses the power, she has to brand/burn herself. It's not something she does intentionnally: it's like a reflex. If she doesn't pay this "price", she will exhaust herself very quickly and begin panicking, and eventually die.
She feels pain from this branding/burning! It's not like she could casually use her power, brand herself, then do it again!
Lvl 3 Power: Water has Eyes
Marie-Céleste can use her power in a second way: she can use the water to spy on people. For this, she also need to be in contact with water, and will then be able to locate her target if it is standing near any form of liquid water. However her face will appear in the water, so if the target can be aware that he has been spotted (if he looks at her face).
This is also her Contract power, so the usual price is required each time she uses it.
Lvl 4 Power: Escape Artist
Without her expert, almost magical, skill at escaping from dangerous situations, Marie-Céleste would never have survived all that time.
She has the ability to pull herself out of many situations, often by the means of clever distractions, or decoys.
Lvl 5 Power: Cold as ice
Another effect of her Contract. She can freeze water she's manipulating. She needs to stay in contact while the object is being frozen, but once it's done, she can leave it, it will melt as normal ice. Note that she can't manipulate frozen water, and that she has to pay the usual price.
Lvl 6 Power: Sharp as diamond
Not only can Marie-Céleste manipulate water, but she can also use this power to create high-pressure jets of water, which can take the form she desires. The main problem is that she needs a real source of water for this, as it uses up a lot of water. A mere puddle won't be enough.
As usual, she has to pay the price when using this power.
Lvl 7 Power: Boiling Within
Another effect of her contract: Marie can use her power to make water boil if she's touching it. She doesn't need to be in direct contact with the liquid for this, she can have it heat up and boil by dipping, for example, her sword in it.
Since it would make her way too strong, Marie-Céleste can't use this power to boil the water inside people. However herself, while using this power, is immune to boiling liquids: she does not get burns or feel pain from them while the power is active.
Trivia:
Her name is made of two completely different things.
-The Marie-Céleste is a ghost ship in the french naval popular belief
-Vaucanson is the family name of the main character in a comic called "Dungeon" (he's a duck. Yes, a duck. And he eventually blows up the earth).
Favourite song: Red Fraction (Mell)
Her powers, and history, are widely inspired from two anime series: "Black Lagoon", for character design and russian origins, and "Darker than Black" for her Contract power.
