Random Interrupts Data File
- Real/Birth Name: Faith McKay
- Garou Honourname: Heals-the-Wyrm
- Rank: Adrenn (Rank 3)
- Auspice: Philodox (born Ragabash)
- Breed: Metis
- Tribe: Glass Walkers
- Tribal Camp: Random Interrupts
- Sept: Sept of Sacrificial Friendship
- Place of Origin: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Height: 5'6"
- Occupation: Garou-Kindred Ambassador
- Apparent Age: Early-20s
- Embraced: 2002
- Kindred Status: Neonate
- Sire: Persephone (deceased)
- Clan: Assamite (Warrior Caste)
- Clan Status: Dispossessed
- Sect: Camarilla
- Sect Status: Consul (Garou)
- Player/Type: NPC (former PC)
Appearance
Nicole appears as a young woman in her early 20s. She suffers from albinism and in her human form her skin was faintly pink, now even paler unless using the "Blush of Life" kindred technique to flush blood into her skin to appear less pale, and her hair is stark white (which sometimes causes her to be confused for a Silver Fang by those who don't know Silver Fangs well) with her irises a strong pinkish-red. This makes her true appearance quite stark and recognisable. As a result, Nicole usually dies her hair, and sometimes wears coloured contacts to blend in better if she feels the need. Since learning the Mask of a Thousand Faces Obfuscate power, she has taken to using it to enhance her guise to appear more "normal" whilst around humans or kindred, more out of a sense of fashion than shame - it would be taken badly by the Garou if she hid her albinism, which is her metis disfigurement, and she is proud regardless - but acknowledges it makes her stand out, which is usually not a good thing for a Garou or Kindred, muchtheless an abomination... Therefore to most, Nicole appears to be somewhere in the light brown/dirty-blonde range, and her eyes clear blue. She keeps herself fairly pale skinned, though reduces the pinkish albinism tinge and deathly pallor.
In crinos or lupus form, she appears as a stark-white wolf with strong pink-red eyes. It is rare that she uses her Obfuscate to mask this appearance in any social or combat situation, and is only likely to do so when wanting to roam around a populated area in lupus form, in which case she uses her Obfuscate to make herself appear as a common, non-dangerous dog breed.
Nicole has no specific preference in fashion. She keeps a fairly casual eye on popular fashion and will usually wear clothing fairly in vogue, though rarely anything ostentatious or expensive-branded (both from a lack of desire, and usually a lack of resources - she has a comfortable salary, but she's far from rich). In casual usage, she favours jeans and t-shirts/blouses, but when fulfilling her role as an E.W. Scripps manager and/or Consul, she favours skirted business suits or short dresses both appropriate for the situation, and which compliment her looks - although she avoids deliberately wearing "sexy" clothing as sex appeal would be generally a wasted effort (or worse, could be taken offensively) with both the Garou (who have laws against Garou mating with Garou) and the Kindred (who lack hormones and so aethetic value will trigger a response that sexiness would not) and typically will only do this for special occasions (a date, when hunting mortals for food, etc...). She generally values light or "natural" make-up looks, with pink or light red lipstick generally favoured over stronger colours. She often consults fashion blogs and other Glass Walkers for advice on this, depending on the situation.
Despite the above, perhaps because of her dangerous job/life, Nicole knows that fashion is one of the few things she can enjoy, and takes advantage of it. She loves wearing attractive clothing, especially to social situations, and has quite a large collection of clothing and shoes. She only tends to take the time to talisman-dedicate her favourite clothing or when going to events such as moots, otherwise usually only talisman-dedicating essential clothing to protect her modesty if the clothing she wears would not naturally be able to accommodate the sudden size shift from homid to crinos.
Background
Born Faith McKay in a Calgary sept to two homid Glass Walkers. Born and raised stuck in Crinos form, she was home-schooled by the Sept. Perhaps it was the fact that computers were here main means of learning and contact with the outside world, but she quickly developed an affinity for technology. She underwent her first change at age 9 and thereafter remained in Homid form most of the time, both because it was more practical for a member of an urban tribe, and because she liked humanity and their technology (especially their gadgets). Soon, being in a form not her native Crinos was as natural to her as breathing. She passed her Rite of Passage with flying colours and became a promising Ragabash. Sure, you still had the occasional knucklehead tribe that disliked her for being a metis, but the Glass Walkers for the most part were pretty chill about it. She had a kinfolk boyfriend who she went steady with, and even got her pilots license. Life was good. Well, except for the whole Stop-the-Apocalypse-or-Die-Trying thing...
But then everything changed when on an infiltration and sabotage mission she somehow got in the middle of a feud between two powerful vampires. Too late she discovered that her tip-off had come from one of the vampires, who used Faith as bait to lure out the second - a powerful Assamite Warrior caste elder. The assassin, having also received false intel and believing Faith to be her quarry, showed the pup that she was no match for an elder vampire and dealt her a killing blow. As the Assamite stood over Faith's dying form, distracted, the true assassin struck. Faith would later learn that the assassin committed something called Diablerie on the Assamite - a kindred she would learn was called Persephone - in order to steal her power. By chance, however, enough of Persephone's blood was spilt from the assassin's blow that Faith lay in a puddle of Persephone's blood - blood which had fallen on her lips and mouth - and, from the thirst of dying, Faith licked it without realisation. An impulse that she would regret for a long time. Imbibing the Assamite's blood as she was dying inadvertedly began the Embrace - the change to one of the undead. The change was the most extreme agony she had ever felt as the Curse of Caine in her changing body fought against the spiritual essense of her Gnosis but, to her shame, she did not die during the change like most do, and became one of the undead. An unholy abomination feared and hated by both the Garou, and the vampires.
Things quickly fell apart. She found virtually no sympathy from her Tribe, who at best shunned her and left her to her own devices, whilst many of her other Sept-mates and former allies now saw her as Wyrm-tainted and corrupted, no different to a Black Spiral Dancer, and sought her destruction. Her initial attempts to deny the unending Hunger for blood did not go well, culminating in her frenzying from hunger and killing her own fiancée. This murder of a kinfolk was the proof the Sept needed to actively hunt her - but although she felt shame at her actions and what she was, Faith was a survivor and flet Calgary. She moved to Vancouver where she was lost for a while until eventually she realised that if she was "Kindred" and therefore OF the Wyrm, but still felt so passionately about fighting the Wyrm, that the Kindred as a race were therefore not intrinsically WITH the Wym. In fact, most Kindred knew nothing (and cared even less) about the Wyrm - and she found allies who understood her and her cause, and even accepted her Garou-Kindred nature. Guided by her totem, the Monkey King, the only person to have stood by her during eveything, she had a moment of illumination, and renounced her old life and auspice. Although this was unusual (and typically, poorly regarded), it would prove a wise course as Faith was finally laid to rest, and she began a new life as Nicole Llambert under the Philodox moon. Believing that her new role was to heal the Wyrm (both internally, and externally), she took this as an honourname and sought to find ways to improve relations between the Kindred and the Garou; not because she cared for the Kindred (most were wyrm-tainted by their own actions), but because she realised many were worth saving and could make good allies to fight the Wyrm (or at least not waste lives fighting). In time, with the Monkey King's guidance, she found an acceptance and control over her new form, mastering and coming to peace with it - achieving something her wise Kindred friend Cathy called "Golconda."
Events in Vancouver came to a head and, after saving the compact, left the city with the leader of the Glass Walkers, who had fallen to the Wyrm but she helped "heal" by convincing him (and she believes it true) that she was the reincarnation of his long-dead daughter. His crimes were too great to be allowed to stay, but there was remaining sympathy and support, and so he was exiled, and Nicole left with him.
Eventually, Nicole came to Ashford, where she had some connections she had made, and began helping repair Garou-Kindred relations much as she had in Vancouver. It was slow progress, but the Sabbat Crusade in 2016 gave the Causus Bellum for her to convince her Sept into action - aiding the "lesser evil" of the Camarilla/Anarch alliance against the "Wym-ridden evil" of the Sabbat. In the aftermath, a Dark Alliance has been formally made between her Sept and the Kindred, and as newly-appointed Consul (a Camarilla title) works hard to keep this fragile alliance working, for the good of both factions.
Human Society
Nicole has learnt the hard way that being around normal humans is hard and dangerous (more typically, for them) when you're a Garou, and also for the Kindred - the double-edge of suffering both Kindred bloodlust and frenzy, and Garou rage, makes Nicole reluctant to be around humans for their sake unless there is a need. Nonetheless, as a Glass Walker (and member of the Random Interrupt camp) living in a thriving city without a human identity is hard. To help with this, her tribe's leader, Don Theodore Carrington, has officially employed her in his E.W.Scripps Company, where she holds a position as a HR executive. Although she works enough with the company execs to not be a complete mystery, she is known to work directly for/under Don Carrington and only takes orders from, and is accountable only to, Don Carrington himself. She handles "special cases" which most assume are the usual corporate things that big companies try to cover up - people doing shady things they shouldn't that, if it gets out, can affect the company's reputation, and the sorts - and there is an element of truth to this, but her job is a combination Public Relations and Human Resources, as her job is quite simply to enforce the Compact, the alliance between the Sept of Sacrificial Friendship, and the city's Camarilla/Anarch rulers.
This is a full-time job. Ancient animosities run strong even in this Sept, and there are many on both sides who do not agree with the compact and would like to wipe each other out. Nicole's job is to investigate threats to the compact and deal with it by any means necessary. Most of the time, this means being a diplomatic ambassador to the Camarilla and Anarchs who run the city (a delicate balance in itself between the secretive Kindred that Nicole herself barely understands, much the less the Sept as a whole) and trying to smooth over issues such as kindred feeding/claiming domains controlled by the Garou (or vice-versa, packs hunting in kindred domains), giving a spanking to Garou who don't tow the line with the Sept's rules about the Compact - but in various cases, she effectively becomes a black operative, having to take out a threat in a more permanent, bloody manner, often with both the Kindred and the Sept wanting complete deniability in what is going on. It is a thankless job, with high risk and little official credit for the most dangerous things - but it has made Nicole work alongside various packs such as "The Misfits" and non-conventional Fera such as Giggles-at-Anger to get things done. For her, this is a calling, and a part of her chosen Honourname "Heals-the-Wyrm". Sometimes, to heal things properly in the long term (such as the ancient animosity between the Garou and the Kindred, especially in cities such as Ashford with a history of conflict; combining their strength and working together helps fight the Wyrm, healing Gaia) requires careful, selective cutting out of cancerous entities.
Personality
No information in database.
Other Notes
Metis Disfigurement
Albinism - Nicole's skin is faintly pink and hair is stark white (which sometimes causes her to be confused for a Silver Fang by those who don't know Silver Fangs well), and.her irises are pinkish-red. In addition to being recognisable, she suffers a +2 Difficulty to Perception rolls when in bright light unless wearing protective lenses such as sunglasses. Nicole usually dies her hair and sometimes coloured contacts to blend in better if she feels the need. Since learning the Mask of a Thousand Faces Obfuscate power, she has taken to using it to enhance her guise to appear more normal whilst around humans or kindred, more out of a sense of fashion than shame - it would be taken badly by the Garou if she hid her metis disfigurement, and she is proud regardless - but acknowledges it makes her stand out, which is usually not a good thing for an abomination...
Nicole's Age
Nicole's biological age and appearance is complicated. As a metis, she was born in crinos form and, like wolves, physically matured faster than homid children. She underwent her First Change at only age 9, although that made her biologically the equivalent to a homid of 16 years of age. At this point, her body clock slowed to the normal rate for Garou, which is slower than that of normal homids. She was embraced (turned into a vampire) around 6 years later at actual age 16 (but the homid equivalent biological age of 22). Therefore whilst she's actually now in her mid-30s in actual years alive, her biological age should be in her late 20s, but the embrace stopped her apparent aging at what seems like 22 years of age.
Lynn Rosenburg
Lynn was a street hooker that Nicole met back in Vancouver, initially as a useful street informant to Nicole - but they became friends over time. Lynn became addicted to a wyrm-tainted, Pentex-created drug which resulted in Nicole leading a mini-campaign against the Pentex subsidiary that ended the drug distribution, then paid out of her own pocket to have Lynn put into rehab, whilst calling in favours from the Garou for cleansing against residual wyrm taint from the drugs. Lynn has now made a new life for herself. Clean for several years and no longer turning tricks, she now runs a support group and soup kitchen/homeless shelter in Ashford. Though it is run via donations, it has a few notable Garou providing donations when needed, and looking out for it - such as ensuring that neither the Kindred nor Pentex dare mess with it. As a non-kinfolk, non-ghoul, ordinary mortal, Lynn is as loyal to Nicole as is possible whilst being kept completely in the dark about both of Nicole's true natures (Kindred and Garou), both of which would likely demand Lynn's death (or turned into a Ghoul) if she were to learn the truth. Nonetheless, Lynn surely must suspect something at this point but, regardless, is loyal and keeping her mouth closed. On the rare time people may have commented about Nicole to her, she only says that Nicole has shown her true heart by her actions, and saved her life, and that is all she needs to know about her friend.
Combat Style
No information in database.
Social Style
No information in database.
Signature Equipment
- No information in database.
Signature Quotes
- No information in database.
Gallery
Nicole in her Homid form
Nicole in her Crinos form