Nails
Doubly Cursed, Never to be Blessed
"I never was asked to be born."
BASICS
Name: “Nails”
Species: Vampire/Werecat
Gender: Female
Name: “Nails”
Species: Vampire/Werecat
Gender: Female
APPEARANCE
Nails's pelt is ashen-white marked with black tiger-stripes. Standing about 5'11”, Nails has a slightly buff gymnast build like, her entire body made of lithe, feline muscle, from her toeclaws all the way to her tiger-like ears. Befitting her name, each of her ten digits are tipped with an ebony claw that is halfway to becoming a dagger.
She is usually found clad in rags held by a nylon rope, all in dark colors, along with gauntlets that reinforce her claws. While she hunts at night, her eyes glow with an eerie golden yellow. They shine even through the darkness of night.
In the rare instance she is found in her human form, she is a diminuitive, yet still toned human with death-pale skin, ginger hair. Due to the pain sunlight brings her, this form is rarely seen.
Nails's pelt is ashen-white marked with black tiger-stripes. Standing about 5'11”, Nails has a slightly buff gymnast build like, her entire body made of lithe, feline muscle, from her toeclaws all the way to her tiger-like ears. Befitting her name, each of her ten digits are tipped with an ebony claw that is halfway to becoming a dagger.
She is usually found clad in rags held by a nylon rope, all in dark colors, along with gauntlets that reinforce her claws. While she hunts at night, her eyes glow with an eerie golden yellow. They shine even through the darkness of night.
In the rare instance she is found in her human form, she is a diminuitive, yet still toned human with death-pale skin, ginger hair. Due to the pain sunlight brings her, this form is rarely seen.
ABILITIES
- Quick Learner: In spite of being no scholar, Nails is a quick study – she is observant of all that she sees, and uses this to fuel the development of her skills. Although this is mostly used to observe body movements, she can also focus on memorization if she needs to, and has an eidetic memory – again, if focused.
- Martial Arts: Nails's self-taught fighting style is based around swift, acrobatic strikes using her claws as well as her powerful legs for kicking and restraining. These claws regrow quickly in a matter of days, and are reinforced using specially fitted alloy gloves, so she can contend with swords and the like. While this means she suffers in range, she makes up for it speed and lethality, striking at vital areas with frightening precision.
- Superior Agility/Strength: Breaking boards is for pussies. ...wait. Regardless of punnery, Nails is able to splinter most things she hits with frightening speed and grace. Were-Cat are already formidable foes to engage in close quarters combat on their own merits as a specie. Add in vampiric strength and agility, and the results are terrifying. Even if one has the advantage of range, good luck trying to hit Nails.
- Toxin Tips: A favored tactic of Nails when hunting prey is to coat her claws in toxins. However, when dueling honorably, she wipes her claws clean. She only uses these when a fight is forced upon her (such as when she is being attacked by an assailant unprovoked). In addition, her claws and fangs still have a chance of transmitting the vampire virus
- Catburglar: Nails is an expert at stealth, infiltration, and lockpicking. Even if caught in the act, people rarely get a glimpse of who or what exactly it was that hit them.
- Reiatsu Strike: Channeling reiatsu into the striking point, Nails can inflict nerve paralysis, sleep, or intense blinding pain with but a single strike by activating/shutting down nerve endings with reiatsu. However, this attack requires utmost precision – almost impossible to land on a fast moving opponent. If she misses the intended spot, the strike deals minimal damage. Alternatively, she can also channel her reiatsu into claw projectiles. While these are not as lethal as getting up and close, they make for an effective pressuring tool for mid-range.
- Shadow Reiatsu: Nails is a creature of the night, and wears it like a cloak around herself, blending in, melding in with the shadow and using the darkness for trickery and deceit. So far, she lacks any notable ability to use it for direct offense, and tends more towards indirect utilization of these techniques.
WEAKNESSES
- Lacking Long Range Options: Nails's only option when confronted with a long-ranged opponent is to find a way to close the gap. Her reiatsu strikes aren't too effective due to lacking any sort of sustainable rapid-fire capability, and cannot travel extreme distances, and most of her effective combat options are only available in melee range.
- Honorable: While Nails is no fool about deception, she refuses to engage in it herself. She is not a fan of underhanded tactics, including poison.
- Light/Fire/Divine weakness: As a vampire, Nails is weak to both these elements, especially if concentrated into sunfire. Divine items also tend to freak her out, sending her mind into a crazed haze and scaring her off.
- Nocturnal: Also weak to sunlight, yadda yadda vampire. But in addition to being weak to sunlight, Nails assumes her human form when it is daytime, leaving her more or less defenseless.
BACKGROUND
Born as both were-cat and vampire, Mariana was a natural cat burglar who ran with a gang of nomadic bandits. Forced to live by moonlight due to her condition, she was a natural due to her abilities.
Among the bandits was their leader, a halfling named Ziggy, a faun healer named Panina, and a few others. At some point, she adopted the name “Nails” because of her unique features.
In spite of poverty and constantly living on the run, in spite of her not knowing her biological parents, in spite of never knowing the sunlight... Nails was happy. Sure, she thought about these things, but all in all, she had a family, that's all that mattered, right?
Even further, while it was puppy-love, she had a friendly rivalry with Panina in regards to Ziggy's affection. In spite of this rivalry, the three were the best of friends.
Then...she fell sick.
She was about 13 when it happened. One night, she had a fitful sleep, once where she screamed, waking up the entire camp.
Ziggy, Panina, and a few more prominent bandit members met to discuss how exactly to help her, or if they could. During this meeting, she rested in the next room. Suddenly, her eyes flashed open. The hunger of the nosferatu started to consume her, filling her thoughts, clouding her mind. She needed blood. Immediately. Attack. Kill. Claim. Slake her thirst.
She leaped into the next room, and went straight for Panina – the beast hissing an intent of death.
Immediately, Ziggy knew what had to be done. He slit his wrist, and offered the blood to Nails.
But Nails had given into animalistic urges, and attacked the hand, feeding hungrily off the blood as Ziggy cried out in pain.
Ziggy survived, due to Panina's quick aid. But the bandit clan was never the same. Ziggy had his hand replaced with a makeshift hook. The bandits regarded Nails with fear and scorn. It was whispered that she did it out of jealousy of Panina due to her love of Ziggy.
At the age of 16, Nails simply...left – she, too, feared she would lose control again.
Wandering alone under cover of moonlight, Nails finds herself drifting from town to town. Oftentimes, she feasts upon livestock and wildlife and the like undercover of darkness – taking care to drain the creature completely, as to prevent a cursed creature such as herself.
Nails has a humongous self-loathing complex. In spite of this, she finds herself fighting to stay alive anyway, driven by an unknown need to live. She steals only what she needs to stay alive, as it's the only form of income she knows – after all, who would hire such an abomination?
In spite of her reluctant kleptomania and self-loathing and growing up around bandits, Nails is quiet and tranquil. She can be compassionate to those in need, especially to children – and even more especially children in need, often sharing what little she gets – after all she can always go back out for more.
She loathes any other creature that dares to spread their existence via violence. While this definition is flexible, the prototypical examples are of course lycanthropes and vampires, which are the textbook definitions in her mind. Seeing either of these, she is immediately distrustful and regards them with disgust and scorn, often missing the irony in regarding them with such loathing.
She also has a slight distaste for law enforcement – while she will not attack them on sight, she will help those on the run from the law, assuming the best about their situation. However, she does not save murderers.
On occasion, she leaves Ziggy and Panina, who are now wed and settled, gifts on their doorstep - bags of coinage, or toys for their little one - in her eyes, it is the least she can do.
Born as both were-cat and vampire, Mariana was a natural cat burglar who ran with a gang of nomadic bandits. Forced to live by moonlight due to her condition, she was a natural due to her abilities.
Among the bandits was their leader, a halfling named Ziggy, a faun healer named Panina, and a few others. At some point, she adopted the name “Nails” because of her unique features.
In spite of poverty and constantly living on the run, in spite of her not knowing her biological parents, in spite of never knowing the sunlight... Nails was happy. Sure, she thought about these things, but all in all, she had a family, that's all that mattered, right?
Even further, while it was puppy-love, she had a friendly rivalry with Panina in regards to Ziggy's affection. In spite of this rivalry, the three were the best of friends.
Then...she fell sick.
She was about 13 when it happened. One night, she had a fitful sleep, once where she screamed, waking up the entire camp.
Ziggy, Panina, and a few more prominent bandit members met to discuss how exactly to help her, or if they could. During this meeting, she rested in the next room. Suddenly, her eyes flashed open. The hunger of the nosferatu started to consume her, filling her thoughts, clouding her mind. She needed blood. Immediately. Attack. Kill. Claim. Slake her thirst.
She leaped into the next room, and went straight for Panina – the beast hissing an intent of death.
Immediately, Ziggy knew what had to be done. He slit his wrist, and offered the blood to Nails.
But Nails had given into animalistic urges, and attacked the hand, feeding hungrily off the blood as Ziggy cried out in pain.
Ziggy survived, due to Panina's quick aid. But the bandit clan was never the same. Ziggy had his hand replaced with a makeshift hook. The bandits regarded Nails with fear and scorn. It was whispered that she did it out of jealousy of Panina due to her love of Ziggy.
At the age of 16, Nails simply...left – she, too, feared she would lose control again.
Wandering alone under cover of moonlight, Nails finds herself drifting from town to town. Oftentimes, she feasts upon livestock and wildlife and the like undercover of darkness – taking care to drain the creature completely, as to prevent a cursed creature such as herself.
Nails has a humongous self-loathing complex. In spite of this, she finds herself fighting to stay alive anyway, driven by an unknown need to live. She steals only what she needs to stay alive, as it's the only form of income she knows – after all, who would hire such an abomination?
In spite of her reluctant kleptomania and self-loathing and growing up around bandits, Nails is quiet and tranquil. She can be compassionate to those in need, especially to children – and even more especially children in need, often sharing what little she gets – after all she can always go back out for more.
She loathes any other creature that dares to spread their existence via violence. While this definition is flexible, the prototypical examples are of course lycanthropes and vampires, which are the textbook definitions in her mind. Seeing either of these, she is immediately distrustful and regards them with disgust and scorn, often missing the irony in regarding them with such loathing.
She also has a slight distaste for law enforcement – while she will not attack them on sight, she will help those on the run from the law, assuming the best about their situation. However, she does not save murderers.
On occasion, she leaves Ziggy and Panina, who are now wed and settled, gifts on their doorstep - bags of coinage, or toys for their little one - in her eyes, it is the least she can do.