Mountebank

Real Name: Montessa Maeda-Moretti
Nickname: Monte
Renegade Name: Mountebank
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Race: Nephilim
Real Hair: Black
Real Eyes: Purple
Real Height: 5'10
Real Weight: 154 lbs

When not in disguise, Monte is a tall, athletic young woman in her early twenties, seemingly mundane even with her extensive tattooing. If one observes her closely, however, the tells become obvious.  Montessa's movements are too self-assured and fluid, moving through the world as if it were choreographed. She never stumbles or starts, seeming to flow through every act as if it were the simplest of tasks.  Though Monte could hide this, she's long since stopped giving a shit.

Montessa enjoys changing up her look, often swapping hairstyles or colors almost weekly.  Though she often adopts whatever appearance she deems necessary when she is working, her personal taste run toward rebellious and comfortable.  Life is too short to spend conforming to another person's prudishness, she believes, and her wardrobe reflects that.  
 


Montessa was born as a product of her father's unsuccessful attempt to bilk a widow out of her money.  Unwanted by the woman that birthed her, Monte was taken to live with her father's extended family - a group of thieves and hedge witches living out in a rural Alabama trailer park.  That clan of rogues brought up, teaching her an eclectic variety of tricks. Monte was their golden child; precocious, quick, helpful, and kind.  Everything thought Monte was destined for great things.

Except her father.

Monte's father loved his child with a passion he was frankly scared of.  He did not want his daughter to live the kind of life he had.  Where once he dreamed of fancy cars and pretty girls, now all he could think of was not having his daughter grow old in a trailer park.

And so, one night, Monte's dad struck a deal with something he shouldn't.  His daughter would be blessed with talent and luck and beauty; and in seven years, the father would give up his most valuable treasure.  The deal was struck, and Montessa blossomed.  

Where Montessa's gifts had been a candleflame before, they were now the Sun.  Everything seemed to come so easily to her.  The family arranged to have any and every opportunity pressed in on Montessa. Their bright hope, Monte would finally get them out from the sticks and into someplace decent, everyone agreed.

Then the bill came due.

One night, Montessa fell down.  She began to have a seizure.  She had been with several aunts at the time, which was what saved her life.  Though they did not know what had caused the attack, the recognized the supernatural nature.  They drew wards of protection on her flesh, which staved off the wasting attack.

The next day, a family meeting was called. Montessa's father confessed the deal he had struck.  Pooling their resources, they were able inscribe the first of Montessa's tattoos on her body.  When she was well enough again to speak, Monte was told the situation.

She was going to die.  

The wards would only hold back the curse so long.  They did not have the magic or the craft to keep it away forever.  It was tied to her blood and seemed to draw power from it.

Needless to say, Montessa reacted poorly.  It took her six months of desperate searching to realize that there was nothing she could do.  She now lived on borrowed time, she realized.  Death was coming.  These were here last days.

Why not make the most of it?

And with that realization, Montessa Maeda-Moretti became the Mountebank.  And the crime spree began.


A Beautiful Lie
At all times, Monte is aware and in control of each muscle in her body.  While allows her some startling feats of acrobatics, but also perhaps the worlds greatest poker face.  In addition to concealing her emotions, Montessa can also project false micro-expressions and body language perfectly, giving her a complete mastery of nonverbal communication.  

Mechanics:  Heightened Charisma, Manipulation, and a super 'Poker Face'

Letter from a Thief
In addition to her skills as a charlatan, Montessa has an incredible mastery over her position in physical space.  Training and magical enhancement has given her individual control of every voluntary muscle in her body and the careful skill necessary to control each.  Movement comes incredibly easy to Monte, as she is able to move with an ease and grace few people can manage.

Mechanics:  Super-Agility, Super-Gymnastics, Heightened Body Awareness

Smooth Criminal
As it might be apparent by now, Monte does crime - and how! Not content for simple, quick smash and grabs or the quick lies for petty cash. For Monte, the challenge is everything. However, say what one might about Mountebank, she does put the work in.  Through a combination of skill, and both simple and complex magics, Montessa is able to accomplish feats of legerdemain that would make a mundane stage magician weep with envy.

Mechanics:  Super-Dexterity, Super-Thievery, Super-Sleight of Hand.

Touch the Sky
If it were not clear by now, Monte is a touch on the squirrely side.  Before she became a professional thief or occasional pitfighter, Montessa was a freerunner.  Pick a point and run to it; do not diverge from the straight line you have set yourself. Enter the flow-state. The world is motion. And suddenly, you are there.  Even without magical enhancement, Montessa can run up walls and hop over obstacles with the most accomplished of traceurs.  With magical enhancement, she could make a Jackie Chan movie look like a Victorian period drama.

Mechanics:  Super-Parkour, Enhanced Jumping, Super-Acrobatics

Ink
While she covers them up while on the job, Monte's body is covered in a network of interlocking tattoos.  What started as the joy of becoming her own piece of art soon morphed into a form of magical expression.  Using special inks and strange rituals, Montessa channels arcane forces into enhancing both herself and the images she has depicted. Though complicated to modify, Monte can use her powerset reflexively without resorting to all that abracadabra nonsense.  

Mechanics:  Power Synergy, Reflexive Power Use.  

Bloodlines
The blood of celestials can lay dormant for many generations before manifesting.  Though it is many, many generations removed, the Mountebank is descended of Uriel, Archangel of Wisdom and Truth.  Though the power of her bloodline was twisted by the actions of her father, Monte still has some call to that power. Lies hold no sway over Uriel's bloodline.  Illusions fail, falsehoods fade, and delusions are swept away.

Mechanics:  'Clear Sight', Resistance to Mind Control, Lie Detector

Warrior
At her core, Monte is a thrill-seeker that delights in challenge and contest.  Montessa delights in a good scuffle; not for the ability to inflict pain, but for the opportunity to test herself against a worthy opponent.  While she isn't above beating up a room full of security guards when things go south, typically Monte views this as a fail state in a caper.  

That being said, Monte is good; very good. Combining her physical gifts with her sudden and reflexive spellwork makes her incredibly difficult to land a hit on.  She's a practitioner of both Bataireacht and Capoeira, merging the two disparate styles together to form a unique whole.  Years of dedication (and magical enhancement) have given Monte the flexibility and staying power to be one of the very best.

Mechanics:  Physical Combat Mastery, Combat Instincts, Dodge Dodge Revolution

Black Magic Woman (12 Ranks Total)
Many of the arcane persuasion use elaborate ceremonies or ritualized speech and hand gestures in order to codify their enchantments, but who has time for that nonsense?  While Monte can be an impulsive adrenaline junkie of the first order, she is disciplined enough to understand the importance of preparation.  

Monte's spellbook is her skin - an elaborate series of enchantments and spell formula tattooed against her living flesh.  Utilizing this odd form of personal enhancement combined with codified Thought Forms, Montessa enacts as surprising variety of quick, but powerful effect.  

The Mountain (Rank 2)
A series of jagged lines rest on Monte's shoulder.  With a brief exercise of her will, Monte enchants an object or person with the eternal motionlessness of the Mountain.  Though it only lasts for a second, no object can exert force or damage upon an object.  Montessa uses this very simple and straightforward spell in a variety of ways; from parrying a blow with her cane to making improvised jumping platforms with a deck of cards she carries.  

Mechanics:  One (1) object remains fixed in space for up to one second; it cannot be harmed or dislodged in that time. Monte can chain this effect, but while doing so, is unable to use it on another.

The River (Rank 2)
[Permission Based]
A series of wavy lines are etched on Monte's arm.  With a brief exercise of her will, Monte enchants an object or person with the erosive inevitability of the River.  No defense is invincible or eternal, and so the object dissolves all boundaries before it.  Montessa uses this spell to imbue objects with that same inevitability; the useless 'taps' of her cane against armor, for instance, prove ever more damaging as the protection is eroded away.  

Mechanics:  One (1) target, one (1) second duration, can be maintained.  The target will eventually 'scale up' against a more powerful opponent, allowing it to play on the level of the contesting force.  This requires multiple 'interactions' for the effect to go into full swing.  The speed to which the effect builds depends on how overwhelming the contesting force is.  Montessa can only imbue one target with this effect at a time.  This spell cannot overcome an immunity.

Vogue (Rank 2)
[Permission Based]
On her thigh, Monte has an abstracted portrait of Marilyn Monroe. Tapping into the iconic charisma of the glamorous starlet, Montessa can push her already incredible charisma into the bounds of the uncanny.  While typically targeting herself with this effect, Monte has occasionally caused distractions by targeting others.

Mechanics:  Though only able to effect one target at a time, this spell amplifies a target's inherent social abilities, making the person seem alternatively terrifying or glamourous in equal turns.  What this spell does not do is allow a person to go unnoticed; Wallflowers are rarely in Vogue.

A Like Supreme (Rank 4)
[Permission Based]
Upon Montessa's abdomen are written the words, 'Silverhand Lives'; invoking the icon, Montessa is able to induce a false belief.  Though it only applies to one target, that target can be nebulous.  Anyone interacting with the object or concept will hold that belief, though the strong-willed can avoid it.

Mechanics:   This effect requires Monte whisper the new belief in one breath to the target or a representation of that target.  One (1) target can be tagged with an uncontested belief.  Anyone who interacts with that target will believe it to be so.  Note that this belief must be reasonable.  'This job sucks' is perfectly reasonable, but 'this job sucks out brains' is not.  Well, unless that job is more interesting than one might first believe...  NOTE: Using this on a player requires Consent.  

In Maidjan (Rank 2)
[Permission Based]
'To Change Deceitfully' is the rough translation of this phrase scribed on Monte's back.  With an act of will, Montessa presses her magic against a target and covers them with a tangible illusion.  While so tagged, the target appears to be the thing Montessa specifies.  Though the object can't be too much larger or smaller than the original thing, Monte has made entire buildings seemingly vanish.

Mechanics:  One (1) target can be made to seem entirely different, though this illusion cannot vary more than 10% of the originals size.  If this effect targets a person, all objects on the person's body may be so effected, though cannot be changed without changing the entire illusion first.  This power also as the ability to make a thing appear entirely invisible through optical tricks, though it requires constant change if the object is in motion, causing a visible distortion in the air.  


The Noose
Monte lives on borrowed time.  Due to the circumstances of the pact her father made, Montessa's life is owed to the demon that bestowed much of her magical power.  This manifests as a magical 'wasting' affect that constantly assaults Monte.  Though her tattoos and arcane knowledge lend her some protection, the simple spilling of her blood is enough to breach her protections.  Time is running out; soon, the Noose will close.

Mechanics:  Unless Monte can kill the hangman, she is doomed to die. Even the shallowest of cuts can slay Montessa, though not quickly.  The speed of her decline is based on the amount of blood she sheds.  Staunching or bandaging the wound will also halt the progress, but such wounds need to be seen to quickly.

The Sacred and Profane
Descended from Heaven, cursed by Hell, Monte is a far cry from normal.  Due to that dual nature, Monte is subject to spells that target both the denizens of the underworld and the celestial choir both.  Montessa can be summoned, warded, and bound in accordance with the appropriate rituals as if both an angel or a demon.

Mechanics:   For the purposes of spellcraft and powers, Montessa is treated as both an angel and a demon.  She can be magically affected by any work that targets those natures, especially if the practitioner knows her true name.

Say My Name
One of the reasons that Montessa goes by a pseudonym is that names, in her family, have a great deal of weight.  By invoking Montessa's full and true name three times, one may demand a task of her, even if that task lays at odds with her interests. The power is broken if the request is directly harmful, but it has roped her into a number of her family's plots in the past.

Mechanics:   Repeat Montessa's full and true name three times; this will cause her to be bound to complete one task for the asker.  This effect cannot last for more than one month, or lead Monte to harm.  Monte must try with her utmost skill to complete the task outlined.  If it is impossible, the request fails.

Highway to Hell
They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions; Montessa must have a highway by now.  While Monte does involve herself in a fair amount of chicanery and larceny, she doesn't do it to harm others. While Monte is guided by her larcenous impulses, oftentimes her heart will pull her toward some act of charity or compassion that will complicate things royally.  

Mechanics:  Appeals to emotion or tugging on heartstrings are very effective against Montessa; powers based on emotional manipulation are also extremely effective.

Just Eat It
Montessa is at the peak of human athleticism, which provides a number of benefits.  However, her incredibly active lifestyle combined with the drain of her mystical enhancements requires something on the order of 20,000 calories a day to sustain!  Failing to sustain this ludicrously high nutritional demand will see Monte quickly start to starve.  Montessa often sleeps with an IV in her arm attached to a bag of medical grade nutritional fluid.

Mechanics:  Starvation comes fast to Monte. Unlike a normal human, Montessa can only last for about two days before the effects of malnourishment begin to take effect.  

Little Lies
Despite what you might think of someone claiming to be the greatest con artist of her day, Montessa operates under a very powerful burden.  When asked a direct question, Montessa cannot respond to it with a lie.  If her next statement addresses it, it must be truthful to the best of her knowledge.  Of course, there are ways around this.  The moment the original speaker says something else, Montessa is not bound to answer truthfully any longer.  After all, they changed the subject.  Monte plays a game of misdirection with any question she is asked.  This can also lead to some interesting family dynamics.

Mechanics:  If asked a direct question, Monte must speak truthfully if she addresses it.  If the original questioner speaks on, Monte is then responding to the new line of thought rather than the old, and may address that with whatever she likes.  

Misfit Toys
Montessa's mystical powers stem from a very large array of interconnected magical effects.  This lends her incredible versatility and speed, but is the source of some of her greatest weaknesses.  In addition to the taxing demand this puts on her caloric intake, disrupting part of her 'web' of enchantments will cause feedback in the others. Like a poorly constructed power grid, if one node goes down, the rest follow.

Mechanics:  Suppression or countermagic on any of Monte's powers will cause the rest to fail, though briefly.  This lapse can be catastrophic, however, as Montessa suddenly loses a large part of her coordination and magical power.

What's Up Danger
Live fast, die young, leave a beautiful corpse with a bagful of money.  Monte knew from the time she was 8 years old she was going to die young.  This lead her to develop an unhealthy obsession with risk.  Monte is often broke, despite having stolen millions in various goods over the years.  Her gambling addiction, her frequent hijinks, her need to risk herself, all of these started as the need to court that end and give it the finger.

Mechanics:   Gambling Addiction, Adrenaline Junkie, Danger Seeker.  Monte will take foolish risks for the rush of taking them, should the opportunity present itself.  She can also not refuse a bet, even if its a stupid one.

Threshold
Looking for the next thrill, the next rush, the next dazzling display, Monte is constantly pushing her threshold. While this forces her mystical ability to constantly grow and develop, this has also lead to certain 'bugs' creeping into the system.  Overtaxing herself can cause her spell matrix to fail as if it had been countermagicked.  (See Misfit Toys)  Monte is ever careful to show restraint... oh, who am I kidding?  This is probably Monte's most triggered weakness.

Mechanics:
What should be the greatest asset of Monte's strange spell construction is also its weakness.  Monte can use multiple spells and powers at once, but the strain on her resources is hard for her hairbrained matrix to cope with.  While short term exertion is typically fine, the longer Monte pushes herself and her capabilities, the more strain she puts on her interconnected spellwork.  Using 4 or more of her powers or spells at once for more than a minute at a time will cause her to suffer a catastrophic loss as if she had been countermagicked.  

Dear Agony
The problem with living on the edge is that eventually it will cut you. A combination of over-exercise, long term use of various alchemical enhancers, and persistent drug abuse has caused Monte's body to rebel.  Montessa suffers from a form of magically-induced fibromyalgia, often expressing itself at the worst moments.  The combination of pain, fatigue, and the cognitive haze that overtakes her renders her all but immobile until she can redose.  Monte treats this with an array of experimental (and very expensive) pills, but her disease continues to progress.  

Mechanics:   Extreme stress (and being countermagicked) may result in an attack severe enough to overcome her medication.


The Gates
Despite being a consummate thief and skilled magician, there are some things Montessa is completely ignorant of.  One of those things being computers.  Having grown up poor in a trailer park that seemed to have decided 21st Century technology was entirely a thing they could do without, Monte views the strange plastic boxes with a kind of superstitious suspicion. Only nerds would think of something so weird as this.  

Anyway, without having to delve into all that geek stuff, Monte discovered a solution.  Her trademark cane is a combination fighting stick and arcane artifact, created to kick the ass of anything technological she encounters. With a quick wrap and a few muttered threats, Monte can command the obedience of machines or any programable, non-sapient object she touches.  This also extends to any complex mechanical device, such as a car or gun.  This will also somewhat repair any object she so commands.

Yes, this does make Monte the superhero equivalent of the old lady that baps a TV with her cane to get it to work better.  

Mechanics:   A combination fighting stick and rod of technology control, this item allows Monte to control any technological devices she touches with simple verbal commands.  Note that the object so touched will obey the intent of her words, rather than the literal meaning.

Samara
There are stories that would break hearts if we knew them.  While Montessa knows better than to cry, she still reads a book containing the stories of a hundred heartaches.  Samara is a slender black book, like a thin bible, penned in Monte's own blood. The power of her bloodline causes the letters within to change in response to a question she asks of it.  

One might think that this book would solve all of Monte's monetary and personal problems, but the book is not omniscient and it is ignorant of the future.  While Monte can hold the book up to a computer and ask for a password, she cannot discover tomorrows lottery numbers.  Montessa must hold the book in the presence of the object or person she wishes to interrogate.  

Mechanics:  The book must be held in the presence of the target and the question asked clearly to the book. Depending on how complex the question or obscure the answer, this can take a very long time.  More knowledge on the subject and more clues can greatly quicken the answer.  This book of supreme knowledge sure requires an awful lot of legwork.  


Though Monte is interested in the spells and rituals to bind entities into her service, she hasn't had the drive to pursue it.  She has no minions as of yet.


Other than larceny and athletics, Monte's passion is music.  She has has spent over $10,000 on her iTunes account, possessing a wide and eclectic musical taste.  

Monte is allergic to cats, but cannot resist their adorable little faces.  

Montessa is intensely superstitious; she never starts a job without a bent nail in her pocket, for instance, and avoids the number 13 like the plague.  

Monte, despite being the very Queen of Larceny, is a great cook.  While her father is absolutely hopeless in a kitchen, the rest of her family saw to her education.  

Monte knows a number of minor cantrips to help with housework.  

Montessa is a HUGE sports fan.  Roll, Tide!

Monte has a Bachelor's Degree in Music Theory from the University of Alabama.

Montessa has never met her mother, or the new family her mother made after Monte was born.


As she stared through her spyglasses, the rooftop balcony looked like another world to Montessa.  A gathering of the rich and elite hobbed their nobs at each other at the fancy party being housed in the hotel next door.  It seemed strange to Monte that 20 stories were all the separated the well-to-do with the do-not-wells.  

That was New York for you.  You had towers crammed full of the wealthy while the folks below scrambled to make it.  Well, it was time the balance that out, wasn't it?  A slow, excited smile stole it's way over her face.  She cracked her knuckles, one at a time, the smile becoming a manic grin.

There was some 60 feet of space between herself and the target tower.  With a thought, her form blended in with the world, camouflaged against the nighttime sky.  She picked up her cane and began to twirl it as stepped up onto the railing of her own balcony.  

"It's magic time..." she said, her voice sing-songing the famous line.

Monte leapt into the night.  

At about the 10 foot mark of her fall, Montessa grasped her cane in both hands and invoked the Mountain, making the object still and unmovable.  Her hands slid around the smooth length of the object, causing her to flip around like a gymnast on the bar.  She dispelled the effect just as her body flung outward, sending her somersaulting another 15 feet or so before she repeated the trick twice more.  

Once she reached her target, Monte hung suspended from her floating cane about two feet from a balcony three stories lower than what she wished for.  In her mind, she had imagined spinning into the affair like a dynamo of chaotic mischief and freaking out all the mundanes.  She guessed that was a little silly.  

Monte did a chin up on her cane and hoisted herself into the balcony.  She reached down and took up her walking stick still floating in midair, then tapped the head of it against the keypad on the edge of the door.

The suite she had randomly chosen was occupied, unfortunately.  Monte had just closed the balcony door when the light turned on.

"Who's there?" Someone challenged, though they sounded inebriated.  It was a tall man; heavily muscled and broad shouldered.  Monte thought he might play for the Buccaneers, which probably explained why he was drunk. They were very bad.

"There is no one here.  It must have been your imagination."

The Buccaneer frowned, then shrugged.  "Guess I must be hearing things."  Instead of going back to bed, the man went to the sizable bar the suit hosted and began to fix himself a drink.  

Montessa crept toward the door, making sure not to move too fast lest her illusion ripple and give away her position.  Finally reaching the door, she tapped the handle with her cane.  The lock clicked open, and Monte slipped out.  

Monte stalked quickly toward the elevator, pressing the call button.  The manic smile still in place, she tapped her foot and leaned on her cane, humming the entire time.  When the elevator arrived, it was empty.  Monte reached up with her cane and tapped the interior camera, and drawled.  "Take a break.  You're working too hard."  The camera for that particular elevator went out of commission.

As the elevators closed, Monte dropped her illusion.  She recast it as a gorgeous woman with platinum hair dressed to the nines, with jewels at her ears and throat.  She pressed the button for the 40th floor and waited.  She looked into the reflection at herself and spoke again.

"This is the most beautiful woman you have ever seen."

She felt the magic take effect just as the doors rolled open.  The effect on the guard just outside the elevator was immediate.  The artificial belief took him, and he seem gobsmacked. Monte gave the man a dazzling smile and held out her invitation to him.

The 'invitation' was actually her cane.  The man took it, not even looking down to check if she was on his list.  The feeling of an electric current ran though Montessa as a glamour fell over her, amplifying her charms.

"Thank you ever so much," Montessa said, giving her voice the hint of an Upstate accent.  She took back her 'invitation' from him.  The man seemed to be unable to speak.  She gave the man a wink and stepped passed him.

It was time to get to work.

From the numerous police reports that had been filed later, no less than $200,000 in jewelry, wallets, watches, and personal items were reported missing.  The host herself, a famous TV personality, had her Daytime Emmy's stolen and replaced by Barbie dolls.  No one knew who or how the valuables went missing; all camera footage was mysteriously absent from the affair.  

...All anyone could agree on was the presence of a beautiful woman in a purple gown, wearing a sly smirk.


Monte's Playlist