Pending Fate


Fate
Fated_light.png
"What can I say? Girls just wanna have fun."
Age: 25
Gender: Female
Height: 5'1"
Weight: 105 lbs
Occupation: Criminal
Residence: Pittsburgh, PA (formerly Chicago, IL)
Family: Dead
Tarot Reading
Fate has created two decks of tarot cards, each card imbued with magic power that she can call upon at will. When a card is used, the design on it fades and leaves a blank sheet behind. In order to use that card again, Fate must repaint it. The amount of time and special materials this takes heavily depends on the type of card being painted. While repainting a card, Fate may take breaks, step away, even take days between working on a card. However, she must remain awake, or else she will have to start over.

Minor Arcana
The Minor Arcana deck consists of 56 cards divided into four suits: Cups, Pentacles, Swords, and Wands. Each card is numbered, ranging from ace to 10, with the face cards being Page, Knight, Queen, and King, in that order. The power of the card increases with their value, with the face cards requiring a person to target, in essence becoming the Page, Knight, Queen, or King. Each suit has a theme and a corresponding element that helps to determine their powers and the materials required to repaint used cards. For example, if Fate was repainting a Wands card, she would need to use materials from a metahuman with powers based around fire or the mind. When wielding the Minor Arcana, Fate can draw a hand of 3 cards, reminiscent of a typical three-card spread. She must use these cards before she can draw more.

Major Arcana
The Major Arcana deck consists of 22 cards, numbered from 0 to 21. These cards are much more powerful than the minor arcana, but Fate has limited access to them. These cards take significantly longer than the major arcana to repaint, with the tradeoff that Fate can use her own blood as the metahuman material in order to paint it. When wielding the Major Arcana, Fate can only draw a single card at a time. Because these cards are so much harder to repaint, Fate tends to save them for special situations.

Where Fate keeps her deck is a mystery, however it always appears to be on her person. When drawing a card, she usually seems to pull the card from thin air, although nobody knows whether she is actually doing that or if it's simply very good sleight of hand. She also seems to do this with other items, usually her seemingly endless supply of Monster Energy that she drinks while she's working on repainting a card.​
 
Click to expand...
Minor Arcana
Being the lesser of Fate's two decks, the cards of the minor arcana are much more varied in their effects than the major arcana. Their effects are much more flexible and open to interpretation, allowing Fate to get creative. The cards are still limited by their suits, however, which denote the general theme that their effects must follow.

Cups
The suit of water, representing emotions, situations involving the heart, and interpersonal connections

Pentacles
The suit of earth, handling money, home, career, and all material and tangible objects

Swords
The suit of air, dealing with action, conflict, change, and power

Wands
The suit of fire, sparking creativity, imagination, and all ventures within the mind and spirit

Major Arcana
The major arcana, being much more powerful, are significantly more limited in the scope of their effects. Whereas the cards of the minor arcana are only restricted by the themes of their suit, the major arcana are bound by the card identity itself, usually tied to a specific effect or a specific theme.

0 - The Fool
Summons a copy of the person it is used on for a period of time. While it cannot accurately imitate people's mannerisms and personality, this duplicate is an exact physical copy. It can be taught to imitate the original, but the extent is limited, given its short existence and stunted mental capacity.

I - The Magician
Activating this card summons an explosive aid. Whether this is literal or symbolic is dependent on the moment, as the decision is made when the card is activated.

II - The High Priestess
This card focuses on mystery and revealing secrets. It can remove the veil of what lays hidden, lift the fog from one's mind, give insight into missing objects, or show the way when the path is lost.

III - The Empress
Envelops the wielder in a warm, comforting aura that negates any psychic or intangible threats. To outside observers, it appears as though a stern, matronly figure walks at the wielder's side, protecting them.

IV - The Emperor
Creates a spectral figure that stands behind the wielder, usually hidden and intangible. When the wielder is faced with physical threats, however, the figure appears to defend them, blocking attacks but never retaliating.

V - The Hierophant
Summons a being that is omniscient about a specific topic or subject. The exact nature of this being is unclear, but any question asked will have an answer provided. At times it is known to be infuriatingly vague or cryptic, regardless of attempts to assert influence over it.

VI - The Lovers
When touched to the target, the card summons an illusory version of the target's current or ideal partner. The target believes this illusion is completely real, and the illusion acts as the target would expect, albeit with Fate's goal in mind.

VII - The Chariot
Arguably the simplest of the major arcana, this card allows Fate to create portals that let her pass from one location to another.

VIII - Strength
Harnessing the power of emotions, this card summons a great being that represents the wielder's imagined symbol of strength itself. It obeys the user unquestioningly until it is either dissipated or destroyed.

IX - The Hermit
Revels in the clarity that can come from isolation, and is used to distance oneself from others. Depending on the intent of the wielder, the card may do so literally or figuratively.

X - The Wheel of Fortune
The effect of this card is completely random, although whatever effect it may have is still within the power limits of the rest of the major arcana.

XI - Justice
Creates an area of effect around the wielder where none may tell an outright lie, lie by omission, or speak in any way that hides the truth. The wielder is immune to this effect.

XII - The Hanged Man
Offering a change in perspective, this card allows the wielder to enhance a single attribute of theirs for a limited time at the cost of another. For example, one could enhance their hearing at the cost of sight, their smell at the cost of taste, etc. Both the enhancement and sacrifice are temporary and revert when the card's effect ends.

XIII - Death
Simply put, this card brings about an end. It could be to a life, to an action, to a plan. Whatever it is comes to an end, although not always in the way that the wielder intends.

XIV - Temperance
Used to heal serious injuries and damages to the body and mind.

XV - The Devil
Thriving on chaos and sin, activating this card temporarily amplifies any and all negative emotions in an area, with a particular affinity for the seven deadly sins: pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth.

XVI - The Tower
Symbolizing destruction and upheaval, this card inflicts lightning-strike changes upon its wielder or their surroundings. What these may be is often only understood after the fact, when the thunder rumbles.

XVII - The Star
A symbol of faith, of beauty, of comfort in one's own skin, this card allows the wielder to take on the appearance of any whom they have met. Any powers the target has are not present in the assumed form, and those with heightened senses will be able to detect the deception.

XVIII - The Moon
Twisting, dangerous waters lurk beneath the gleaming light of the moon. This card summons a twisting hallucinatory labyrinth that is constantly shifting and changing, threatening to sweep those caught in its effect away.

XIX - The Sun
A shining symbol of hope, this card renews the energy and vigor of those caught within it, replenishing their energy and healing their wounds.

XX - Judgement
A moment of reflection, of sentencing, this card binds the wielder and one target. Until the card expires, anything the target does to the wielder also affects them, and vice versa.

XI - The World
The penultimate card, the wielder draws upon the power of the other metas. By selecting one and touching them with this card, the wielder is granted the target's powers for a very limited period of time. Once used against a target, they are forever immune to the effects of this card.
 
Ever since she was a child, Kimberly was known as the weird girl. The daughter of a fortune teller and a painter, she'd often been told to express herself by her parents, to be proud of who she was. Where with most children this would manifest in some form of creativity, with Kimberly it instead took the form of a deep interest in odd topics, in the weird, the occult, the macabre. Teachers reached out, concerned about what she'd been looking up on school computers or disturbing drawings she'd made. They simply said their daughter was expressing herself, and that was the end of it.

It didn't take long before Kimberly picked up tarot reading from her mother. After all, she'd spent plenty of time in her mom's shop, listening to her give readings to her customers, scrunching up her nose at the stench of incense and burning sage. Her mother had let her look at her cards before, but never let her do a reading with them, suggesting Kimberly make her own deck in order to properly attune to it. Kimberly embraced the idea, taking a stack of blank cards and a set of paints from her father.

She wanted more than just to be in tune with the deck, though. Kimberly wanted the deck to be hers, to be special and unique, bound only to her. Magic was primarily intent, as her mother had told her, so Kimberly decided to add a little something special to her deck. A quick trip back into her father's paint studio, he was always hard to distract when he was zoned into a painting, and Kimberly returned with a small x-acto knife. She dragged it along her index finger and let a drop of her own blood fall into each of the paints, mixing thoroughly. She didn't think anything of the fact that the paints should have been much more discolored by the addition of a drop of red than they were.

She decided she didn't want to go in order, and instead Kimberly started with her favorite card: The High Priestess. She had a design in mind and began diligently painting; columns on either side with something curling around them, roots on the bottom leading up to a feminine figure with an obscured face, draped in a veil with a crown of what could be finger bones. Above her sat a large ornamental eye.

As Kimberly went to finish the eye, she spun the card around so she didn't accidentally smear her work. As she placed the finishing touch, she couldn't help but stare into the eye, feeling herself almost get drawn into it. When she managed to look away, she was no longer in her bedroom, but instead in a dark courtyard. Massive pillars stretched above her, strands of something white coiling around them. A figure stood between them, clothed in a white dress, her face obscured, a smile all that was visible.

The High Priestess gestured to a handful of stone basins laid out before her. Kimberly shuffled forward and peered into one. Reflected in the liquid she saw herself. She was older, in a suit, working in an office. Everything looked dull and gray. She shifted to the next one and found a similar sight. So it was as Kimberly went through all the basins, all showing boring, uninteresting futures. It was not until the final basin that Kimberly saw something that made her smile.

She saw herself, clad in black and red, the eyes of everyone upon her. Her hair was black and white, she had piercings, and power crackled at her fingertips. More than that, though, she was smiling, laughing. She was having fun. This was the future she wanted. Kimberly looked up at the High Priestess, who merely gestured towards the basin. Kimberly cupped her hands and dipped them into the cool liquid before bringing it to her lips. It tasted sickly sweet and sour, and burned as it slid down her throat. When she opened her eyes again, she was back in her room, the finished card staring up at her. But Kimberly's mind was now clear, and she knew what she had to do. And so she set her plans into motion.

That night, both her mother's store and the apartment above it were destroyed in a fire. Only two bodies were recovered. Magic always has a cost.
 
Not too far in the future, an odd string of crimes began to occur throughout the greater Chicago area. They seemed unconnected at first. heft, assault, an occasional murder. The only thing that tied them together was eyewitness accounts. Every onlooker reported the same short, feminine figure dressed in red and black with white-streaked dark hair. One such eyewitness even swore he made eye contact with the figure, stuck staring in horror as she stood over a bloodied body, smiling at him and waving her fingers.

This criminal figure finally received a name when she took the patrons of an entire bank hostage. Camera footage showed the desks and floor come to life, sprouting branches and thorns and binding all the patrons as the figure casually walked back to the vault before exiting. Nothing seemed to be taken, in fact bank records show that nothing was actually taken from the vault. Before departing, the figure went to the head teller and whispered something in his ear.

"When they ask you who did this, you go ahead and tell them that it's Fate."

The little stunt seemed to be just for attention, and it certainly had caught the attention of Chicago PD. However, it also caught the attention of another interested party.

Fate hadn't set out to join a metahuman borderline terrorist organization, but when the Chicago sect of Slate offered her a spot in their ranks, it was hard for her to say no. Whilst part of the Chicago sect Fate flourished, sowing chaos and disorder whenever it suited her. More importantly, she had access to supplies and materials, fully finishing her deck. Things were good, for a time. At least they seemed so on the surface.

The Chicago sect had grander ideals, however. They wanted to go rogue, to separate from Slate as a whole and challenge Obsidian for control. Naturally the boss had caught wind of this rebellion and sought to handle this matter personally. Unfortunately, he was too late. By the time that Obsidian had heard about his rogue sect and decided to take care of them, the issue had been settled. Scorched earth was all that was left of their headquarters, and the only member that could be found was their newest recruit: a dark-haired girl dressed in red and black.

Obsidian had wanted to destroy the Chicago sect, but Fate had gotten bored first.

Seeing what she could truly do, Obsidian extended an offer for her to join the primary sect of Slate in Philadelphia. Fate readily accepted, and has been happily causing mischief ever since. It's been a while, now, especially since the core membership left to start their new branch in Pittsburgh. Now with Malachite dead and Fate being called to join the "family" in Pittsburgh, will she find an invitation awaiting her? Or simply an opportunity to cause more chaos?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top