Corvus Vendetta
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
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| "The world is grown so bad, that wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch." --Shakespeare | |
| Corvus Vendetta | |
| Player: @Brimstone | |
| Origin: | Natural |
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| Archetype: | Defender |
| Security Level: | <50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | unknown |
| Known Aliases: | Corvus |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | unknown |
| Height: | 5'5" |
| Weight: | 115 lbs. |
| Eye Color: | unknown |
| Hair Color: | unknown |
| Biographical Data | |
| Citizenship: | American |
| Occupation: | Intelligence guru, assassin |
| Place of Birth: | unknown |
| Current Residence: | unknown |
| Marital Status: | none |
| Known Relatives: | none |
| Known Powers | |
| shadow manipulation, near-flawless sniper ability | |
| Known Abilities | |
| shadow/shade jumping, high-level spy techniques, high-level hacker ability | |
| Equipment | |
| very light armor, dressed for speed over defense | |
| Footnotes | |
| No additional information available. | |
Named by the citizens of the Rogue Isles for her raven-like guise, demeanor and tendencies, Corvus is a highly-reputed intelligence guru and assassin for the general populous, good or bad. Working mainly from the Rogue Isles, her name is known to the more informed of heroes and villains alike, though as a spy she is very rarely seen. A sniper, Corvus is nearly without comparison for both her accuracy with a bow and her value as a resource for information. She is known to work alone.
The character of Corvus Vendetta is a Dark Miasma/Archery Defender of Rogue alignment. She was inspired by a combination of several comic book figures: Rorschach (The Watchmen), Oracle, and Batman of DC Comics; and Daredevil and Hawkeye (Kate Bishop) of Marvel. Corvus Vendetta is played by a 21-year-old American college female, @Brimstone.
Last updated 07 January 2012.
Contents |
Known Biography
What is known about Corvus proved limited: As a spy specializing in retrieving information about others, she has consequently learned how to shield her own identity from querying eyes and ears as well. Said to have been born an only child to a wealthy family with connections to the Circle of Thorns somewhere in the Rogue Isles, little to no details are known about Corvus's upbringing nor the whereabouts and identities of her parents. Corvus has admitted, however, that her childhood was not a happy one, and that both her parents have since passed away.
The figure that would later be named Corvus first began as a rumored renegade with strikingly precise long-range skill with a bow. The sniper was said to strike from the shadows, her targets consistently shot dead with a single arrow through a particular weak point, however covert or unlikely they were to be. Onlookers witnessed seeing a figure dart from the darkest nook of some sort of lofty perch who, her clothes silhouetted against the sun or moon, resembled a crow emerging from the shadows. Despite efforts, the woman was increasingly difficult to apprehend, always slipping through police and villain fingers alike with ease -- and the weighty warrant for her dead-or-alive arrest began. Citizens came to both fear and admire her, naming her unknown identity "Corvus," her quest later considered a "vendetta" of sorts when she began assassinating well-known figures, good or bad (even Paragon heroes and Isles villains), according to her own personal discretion.
Alongside the demand for her demise was a demand for her as an intelligence resource: Many of her aligned targets were later found out to be crooked or with a deeply dangerous plot, leading to a belief that Corvus was a spy, and possessed more knowledge on her targets than even those they worked closely with. The woman began appearing to heroes and villains alike offering information on their enemies in exchange for money, and soon came to be known as an intelligence guru within the Rogue Isles.
Though basing herself in the Rogue Isles, Corvus preys on villains and heroes alike, always a hidden method to seemingly illogical madness (see "Shadow Sight" beneath Powers). Her true identity is unknown, admitted to have been "abandoned," and implying that there is no "secret identity" to keep and that she exists only as the Corvus.
Personality
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Calm, yet witty and blunt with her reportings and observations, Corvus herself is fairly friendly and to-the-point. While she is not the most modest about her work (the woman is unafraid to point out what she already knows about a person, or approach them with indiscreet questions and observations about them) she is still fairly humble, and finds no reason for bragging or condescension. Fairly keen when it comes to making observations and estimating results and psychological reasonings, Corvus is nearly always right about what she reasons about a person's character -- and she knows it.
Due to her autobiographical memory (hyperthymesia), Corvus is a troubled individual, as much of her life, good or bad, cannot be forgotten and can unwillingly drown her in unwanted memories when the right word (or sound, or name...) triggers it. To the general public, she maintains a neutral air, never admitting to these psychological issues nor her condition, and never exposing herself as mentally exhausted though she is at all times. Like so much else, she is fairly secretive, and has little to say about herself.
Corvus seems to have a bit of a crow-like tendency to be greedy and collect; she demands money for her services, whether it be information or personal contracts, but is also extremely rational and for the most part looking only to earn her money to feed herself, rather than steal to survive, believing herself to be "above" that. Corvus has admitted to being fairly destitute, and living in a "shack" with few possessions and little money to her name. She usually refuses to collaborate against targets with other mercenaries, etc., because she seeks to earn her money entirely by herself. However, she also favors working solo so as not to be "slowed down," as well as not have to place trust in the type of individual doing the same jobs she is. All that said, it is clear Corvus has a fairly decent sense of morality... but doesn't necessarily go about it the right way.
Hyperthymesia (Autobiographical Memory)
Corvus is a quiet, well-mannered introvert whose skills base themselves on a rare case of hyperthymesia, a condition in which she possesses so superior an autobiographical memory that she can recall nearly every instance and aspect of her life image-for-image and word-for-word. Because she can recall events perfectly, her capability as a spy is increased tenfold: Everything she sees and hears about an individual or situation is forever memorized, making her ability and value as an intelligence guru nearly without comparison. Unfortunately, her case is not as selective as others', and she is able to remember nearly everything she has experienced, read or heard.
However, while her case of hyperthymesia is her bread and butter, the condition is less a blessing and more a curse. Because she is virtually unable to forget anything of her life since her teenaged years when it first began developing, she is unable to forget faces, names, places, dates -- a lot of information for one brain. A single word can trigger memories of bad events; a single name can branch into a near obsessive-compulsive need to relay all information associated with it. That said, Corvus's mind is constantly moving at a speed she can barely keep up with, and the woman finds herself mentally exhausted at all times. When not in a state for spy work, it is often hard to get her attention: Her mind simply clouds out the world around her, and she is often "lost in remembering." The condition is taxing and a burden, but Corvus is rare to speak of it, and her mask and dark hood hide much of the exhaustion -- when she is idle, one cannot tell if she is lost in her memories, or keenly observing the world around her in silence.
The condition unfortunately gives Corvus a slight tendency for obsessive-compulsiveness, often in strange areas: She is often "OCD" about gaining all the information she possible can about a target, yet she also has a strange attraction for shiny items and occasionally collecting/hoarding them. Coincidentally enough, a natural curiosity, an attraction for objects and a tendency for hoarding are all also very common tendencies for crows.
Powers
Archery
- Fairly self-explanatory; Corvus is a long-range sniper and an unbelievably accurate hawkeye. Her ability to see only shadows seems to aid her archery skills rather than impede it. Her right eye glows a bright white light when aiming, strong enough to penetrate even her mask. It seems to aid her accuracy, although its origins are unknown even to she.
- Corvus is equipped for speed rather than defense, enabling her to shoot from afar and exit quickly without/before needing to physically defend herself. In close combat, she can be easily overtaken, though she has several techniques to ensure her own safety or escape.
Shadow Manipulation
- Shadow Manipulation: Corvus seems able to manipulate the dark to her liking, whether to adapt it through stealth, power, defense, or even means for healing. She is entirely unsure where these abilities came from, as well as the true potential they hold.
- Shadow Sight: Corvus, in actuality, only sees in shadows, and the mask in front of her eyes neither impedes nor improves her vision whatsoever, as she is seemingly able to see even with her eyes closed. In Corvus's vision, the world is backwards: Figures appear as horrible monstrosities depending on the individual's inner psychosis, while their shadow, though still black, would match the person in actuality (thus Lord Recluse would likely be the most hideous, monstrous being she had likely ever seen, while his shadow would be that of Recluse in reality, unmatching). It is on this basis that Corvus chooses who to assassinate by her own discretion, and her close inspection of shadows allows her to discern what the individual looks like in actuality. When giving physical descriptions according to what her hyperthymesia remembers, she describes the shadow she has seen, and includes colors and clothing only if she overheard or read a description. Environments and inanimate objects are unchanged in her vision.
- Shade Jumping: Corvus retains the unique ability to slide in and out of shadows as a means of transportation and of hiding. It is most commonly used when working as a spy, as she can easily sink into the shadow of an object and remain their until jumping to another to exit, but it can also be used for a quick getaway in an emergency. Shade Jumping seems to be fairly physically taxing.
- Flight: It should be noted that Corvus does not have wings and is entirely human-born. However, her shade jumping ability enables her to quite literally jump in the shadows of the clouds, meaning virtually anywhere in the sky between cloud and land. It is less "flight" and more "teleportation," per se, but you get the idea. As mentioned, shade jumping is physically taxing, and while obviously impossible on a cloudless day, it is made quite easier during hours of the night when all is dark.
- Hyperthymesia: Though a mental condition, Corvus's rare case of hyperthymesia started around her mid-teenage years, when her vision began to fail and abilities in shade and shadow manipulation began to appear, hinting that the two may have been somehow connected.
- Living Shadow: The Dark Servant pet (lv. 32, Dark Miasma) is played as being Corvus's living shadow: a gross, winged monstrosity with a hooked beak and a chilling, crow-like call. It appears to possess the same Shadow Sight as Corvus, as well as an active consciousness; it arises from the ground or remains inactive beneath Corvus by its own accord, and it seems the woman has little control over it. It speaks at times, though its call can only be understood by its master.
Skills associated with Hyperthymesia
- Digital Hacking: Though Corvus makes it a point to avoid technology -- too much incoming information for her brain to handle and memorize all at once -- Corvus is unsurprisingly skilled at hacking due to an unfortunate ability to remember coding she has read. While nowhere near the prestige of a world-class hacker, her abilities have been considered that of a virtual terrorist, and she has quite often used her talents to gain access to well-locked corridors in order to spy.
- Photographic memory: It is virtually impossible for Corvus to be lost, unless she is blindfolded or otherwise unable to see where she has come from. She also remembers exact images and small details in settings, as well as faces, directions, etc. and can remember fairly anything she has ever written, giving her a vast knowledge over sometimes odd and useless things.
- Basic self-defense: Corvus has observed many fights over the years, and knows techniques in hand-to-hand combat. However, she does not practice them regularly, and thus does not have the reflexes for them to be extremely useful, but the knowledge is of some help.
Appearance
Corvus wears a black skirt, highlighted with white details; its front is short, while its back reaches her heels and oddly resembles a bird's feathered tail. Her thigh-high boots only allow for a small bit of leg to show: the only exposed skin on her body, coated in fishnet. She does not wear any form of wings, as her "raven" guise is, once again, unintentional and she has, in actuality, little concern for what she incidentally resembles, as she cannot see it.
Although by the exposed skin of her legs, one can confirm Corvus is indeed Caucasian-skinned; however, other details (eyes, hair, etc.) cannot be confirmed.
