Madame X
Madame X is a Azlu.
Overview
The Urbane Spider Woman
Most Azlu content themselves with being predators of flesh and spirit, feasting on the humans, spirits and (in rare cases) Uratha who congregate around the city's more powerful loci. Not so for this spider; she is smart enough to understand the ins and outs of human society and the constraints said society places upon the activities of the city's supernaturals. She has also learned to weave her webs in innovative fashion, strengthening the walls of the Gauntlet in ways that are all but undetectable. Perhaps she is an interior decorator, designing homes with her own special brand of feng shui. Or perhaps she is a tattoo artist, weaving webs into the very artwork she creates. The possibilities are endless, but there is one constant - they are all subtle. She knows that discovery means death, and so she has become very, very good at hiding her tracks.
Madame X
Madame X is the moniker used by the owner of Ink, a seedy tattoo parlor located in one of the worst parts of town. Madame X appears to be a woman of indeterminate origin; indeed, her customers have found that nearly every aspect of her appearance is mutable and subject to change. Sometimes she appears to be a dark-skinned African woman, while at others she appears to be Vietnamese, Caucasian or Latino. No one knows why or how she changes her appearance so drastically on such a regular basis, but her penchant for doing so had turned her into a minor celebrity in many of the neighborhood haunts. Complicating matters is the fact that nobody ever seems to see her outside of her tattoo parlor; she must have a life outside, of course, but where and how she spends her time remain a mystery.
Unbeknownst to the locals, the original Madame X was devoured a long time ago. The creature in her skin is an Azlu of great skill and artistry. Her tattoos are a means of binding her Gauntlet Webs to living, moving beings, and they allow her to strengthen the Gauntlet while minimizing her risk of exposure. Her tattoo business allows her to meet all sorts of new and interesting people, and she uses the information gleaned from such encounters to identify tasty new potential victims.
Stats
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 4, Wits 4, Resolve 4
Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Stamina 2
Social Attributes: Presence 2, Manipulation 4, Composure 4
Mental Skills: Crafts (Tattoo Artist) 4, Medicine 2, Occult 2
Physical Skills: Athletics 2, Stealth 4, Survival 3
Social Skills: Animal Ken (Spiders) 1, Expression 3, Persuasion 3, Subterfuge (Misdirection) 4
Merits: Danger Sense, Resources 2, Striking Looks 4
Willpower: 4
Morality: 4
Essence: 4
Virtue: Prudence
Vice: Pride
Health: 7
Initiative: 7
Defense: 3
Speed: 10
Numina: Chorus, Discorporation, Gauntlet Webs, Skin Stealing, Speak With Beasts, Wall Climb
- Gauntlet Webs: Madame X has discovered a particularly insidious use for this Numen: she binds the webs directly into the tattoos she crafts. This makes the webs difficult to destroy, as they are both mobile and bound to the life of the person wearing them; destroying the webs requires destroying the person who wears the tattoo. However, the webs of this sort are not as powerful as typical Azlu webs; the strength of their effect on the Gauntlet is measured both by the complexity of the tattoo and by the number of tattooed individuals in the vicinity. Typically, the difficulty to step or peak through the Gauntlet in a 10-yard area increases by one for every three tattoos in the vicinity. If the tattoos are particularly complex, fewer may be needed to have the same effect.
- Skin Stealing: As the four-dot Mother Luna Gift.
- Speak With Beasts: As the two-dot Nature Gift. Note that this Numen only works with spiders.
References
- WTF: Territories, p. 112-113