Name: Taylor
Race: Human
Age & Gender: 14, Female
Height & Weight: 5'0", 107 lbs.
Appearance:
An ethereally beautiful girl, barely developed, with smoothly combed hair that hung down over her shoulders.The pallor of her skin seemed almost transparent. Her eyes were the color of dark gold, serene and untroubled.
Type: Insect Shaman
History:
Born to a family with corporate influence, who groomed their offspring for positions of authority within the corporation. This union was a matter of genetics, and while her siblings all had slightly above-average intelligence, Taylor was shown to have a phenomenally high one. The directors were so pleased, in fact, that she became alienated from her peers and was isolated from everyone except her servants.
This isolation embittered and drove her miserable, but also gave her access to resources beyond that of other children. When she was still very young, merchants traded a weak Insect Spirit to her private school. This spirit entity was weak and lacking in power compared to others, allowing it to be easily subdued and studied. For years she began to experiment with the Insect Spirit, and secretly hid her knowledge of it from the adults.
As she grew older, Taylor was ultimately able to become half-possessed, dominating the Insect Spirit but tasting some of it's energies. And all of a sudden it felt like the whole world was moving: Insects have vision, but it's all the thousands of tiny hairs that really get their attention. They sense every subtle clue in the wind. Every minor movement in every direction. The world was weird to her eyes. She saw colors no human ever saw. Things that should have been brown were blue, and green was red, or whatever. From some angles the pictures were almost clear, but a second later everything would shatter into bits and it would like be watching a million tiny monitors at once.
Seeing a corporation from the inside and what her life would become, the young woman chose instead to be a runaway, surviving on the outside. Left to her own on the streets, she existed in poverty while making her way to Bug City, formerly Chicago, pursuing her own shaman affinity for a better life. The local Shamans became her family, and furthered her training until she was a shaman as well.
Taylor lived alongside guerrilla commandos and huge chitinous beasts took part in missions to unknown, dangerous environments. His teams explored dark, derelict installations and ships. They spent weeks in tunnels and forests in search of religious artifacts, and had their own runner groups acting as contractors for outside clients. She took on the name "Simon" while communicating with clients, choosing a male name to throw off conjecture. At some point, Taylor contracted a deadly virus that destroyed her lungs, and had to have them replaced.
Notable skills:
Unrivaled perceptiveness and mental adaptability, able to perform complex mathematical operations in her head and learn entire languages in a single day. As a shaman, she draws energy from the Astral Plane into herself to acquire power. Such acts are dangerous- The spirits may know the thoughts of people close by, destroy or reshape the human form, and even manipulate a person's very soul. However, she cares little for the risk, being wholly concerned with the here and now.
In addition to a limited shapeshifting power (morphing into an insectoid form), Taylor is able to briefly converge her own psyche on the Astral Plane, seeing into the Irreal and revealing the surrounding environment
And finally her main ability: summoning Insect Spirits to the Material Plane. Seven-foot mantis warriors are terrifying and can take on any men who threaten the shaman group, lashing their clawed forearms with enough force to cut off a man's limbs or their head. The strongest can bring into being swarms of stinging creatures or a centipede the size of a train. An insect has only a small brain cells and no possibility of conscious thought. The spirits share this weakness, and are unlikely to make clever decisions. Antennae action is where it's at, and of course pheromones. They wouldn't be good at long-distance sight but their motion detection would far outclass a human's, their sense of hearing would be shit but their sense of smell and taste would be leagues ahead of our own.
Personality:
A pacifist. She never fights unless her life is in absolute danger or there are innocents being harmed. This means she won't oppose to getting beaten, mugged or anything. If she were to be sexually assaulted, she would simply sit there without protesting rather than summoning an insect spirit to destroy them. Her reasoning is that violence arises from a state of unrequited need. An aggressor is to be appeased, and their actions are a manifestation of some internal turmoil. If she willingly does whatever an aggressor wants, she is making sure that they won't be hurt and she won't either, because they will have no reason to use violence.
Reason to be here / Things to do: Go on missions to further her own knowledge and self introspection. Attempt to make a greater positive impact on society than negative one, and bring at least a modicum of improvement to people's lives as a result of her actions. Obey commands from the shaman leaders when their goals are compatible with hers.
Equipment:
As for material items, she never carries much wealth. Her part of the loot is always given to her companions, and she trusts them to make whatever purchases she needs such as food and emergency stuff. For a weapon, Taylor prefers a light one-handed device, such as a machine pistol.
Contacts:
Her shaman subculture, at DM's discretion.